JPH0722667Y2 - Camera mercury switch - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Use of the Invention] The present invention is a mercury switch suitable for use in an apparatus for detecting the posture of a camera with a mercury switch and selecting the posture of data to be recorded on a film for imprinting. Regarding

[Background of the Invention] Recently, a camera equipped with a data imprinting device that records the photographing data such as the photographing date and the shutter speed on each frame of the film for each photographing is commercially available. It is extremely convenient, such as recording the date.

By the way, in a camera equipped with such a data imprinting device, depending on the vertical and horizontal postures of the camera, that is, when the camera is held in the horizontal direction (normal position) or when it is held in the vertical direction, It is desirable that the posture of the data to be imprinted on the film is also recorded so as to be imprinted in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction. Therefore, a camera having such a data imprinting device needs a means for detecting the vertical and horizontal postures of the camera, and a mercury switch may be used as the vertical and horizontal position detecting means.

Generally, a mercury switch has at least a pair of lead wires in a tubular glass container in which mercury is sealed, and the tips of the pair of lead wires are short-circuited by the flow of mercury in the glass container in the direction of gravity. Alternatively, it is opened to realize an on / off function as a switch, which is configured as vertical and horizontal information of the camera.

In the camera provided with the mercury switch having the above structure, the glass container of the mercury switch may be damaged in the case of a camera drop accident or the like. Alternatively, even if the camera is not dropped, when it is used in a place where it is frequently subjected to shocks such as vibrations, for example, the mercury switch used in the data imprinting device of the camera collides with an object when the camera falls or the camera is carrying. When the mercury switch is exposed to excessive shock, the glass container of the mercury switch may be damaged due to its low mechanical strength. Needless to say, if the mercury switch is damaged, the vertical and horizontal positions of the camera cannot be determined, and mercury leaks into the camera and adversely affects the film.

[Purpose of device]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is designed so that it can be used as a vertical / horizontal position detecting means for a camera that records the shooting data in a vertical or horizontal direction on a film according to the vertical / horizontal orientation of the camera. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mercury switch having improved mechanical strength.

[Outline of device]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a mercury switch for detecting the vertical and horizontal positions of a camera in which data is selected by selecting the vertical direction or the horizontal direction according to the attitude of the camera.
A mercury switch having at least a pair of lead wires in a tubular glass container in which mercury is enclosed, the outer peripheral surface of the mercury switch being covered with a heat shrink tube, and the open ends of the heat shrink tube being sealed with an adhesive. It is characterized by having done.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a mercury switch according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 show the manufacturing process of an embodiment of the mercury switch according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional mercury switch 10 has a mercury
A tip portion 104A is inserted into a tubular glass container 100 in which 102 is enclosed, and the other end portion has a pair of lead wires 104 connected to an external circuit portion. The tip portion 104A of the lead wire 104 is formed into an amalgam so that mercury easily attaches. The mercury switch 50 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2 covers the outer peripheral surface of the tubular glass container 100 of the conventional mercury switch 10 with the heat shrink tube 20 made of synthetic resin and heats the heat shrink tube 20 to about 90 °. As a result, the tube 2 is placed around the glass container 100.
Adhesion coating with 0. After coating, both ends of the heat shrinkable tube 20 are sealed with an epoxy adhesive 30 as shown in FIG. In the state shown in FIG. 2, the mercury switch 50 configured as described above is turned on by the lead wire 104 being conducted through the mercury 102.
When the mercury switch 50 is tilted and exceeds a tilt of about 45 °, the mercury 102 is separated from the lead wire 104, and the mercury switch 50 is turned off.

According to the mercury switch 50 thus configured, the mechanical strength of the mercury switch can be improved by covering the outer peripheral portion of the glass container 100 with the heat shrinkable tube 20 and the epoxy adhesive 30, and the glass container 100 Even if it breaks, the mercury 20 is prevented from flowing out by the tube 20 and the epoxy adhesive 30.

In the above embodiment, the tubular glass container 100 has an outer diameter of, for example, 5φ, and the heat-shrinkable tube 20 has an inner diameter of 6φ before heating.

Next, an embodiment in which the mercury switch 50 according to the present invention is applied to a data imprinting device of a camera which records the photographing data such as the photographing date on each frame of the film for each photographing, is shown in FIGS. A description will be given with reference to FIG.

3 and 4 show the arrangement of the mercury switch 50 as the vertical and horizontal position detecting means of the camera in the data imprinting device. FIG. 3 is a rear front view of the camera body 200 with the taking lens system oriented horizontally, and FIG. 4 is a schematic side view thereof. In these drawings, the mercury switch 50 is arranged in the space 216 of the back cover 214 portion of the camera body 200 so as to form a predetermined angle, for example, 45 °, with respect to the bottom surface 218 of the camera body 200. This is a mercury switch as a shooting position detection means when shooting with a camera
12 is intended to ensure the stability of operation. That is, when the mercury switch 12 is attached at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the bottom surface 18 of the camera body, the mercury switch 12 is in the ON position with respect to the camera tilt of ± 45 ° in the lateral position of the camera. The mercury switch 12 can be held against the camera's ± 45 ° tilt even in the vertical position of the camera.
It can be held in the OFF state.

The inclination angle is not necessarily 45 °, but 45 °
It is preferable to set the angle to the front and back.

In the present embodiment, the mercury switch 50 is further arranged so as to be inclined backward (5 ° to 10 °) with respect to the plane orthogonal to the optical axis 230 of the taking lens system 220 in the space 216 of the camera body 200. .

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the mercury switch 50 is in the ON state, and at this time, the data imprinting device incorporated in the camera body 200 waits on the film surface to be exposed, for example, to record the photographing data in the lateral direction. Is in a state.

Here, for example, even when the taking lens system 220 of the camera is directed downward, the mercury switch is turned by the angle θ as described above.
Since the 50 is arranged so as to be inclined, the mercury switch 50 is maintained in the ON state, and when photographing is performed at this position, the photographing data is recorded in the lateral direction of the exposed surface of the film.

That is, from the state shown in FIG.
Mercury switch even when rotated counterclockwise up to 90 °
Since 50 is positioned at an angle θ with respect to the horizontal direction with respect to the information, even if the photographing lens is directed downward, it is maintained in the ON state unless the camera body 200 is held vertically. Here, the angle θ is selected to be, for example, 5 ° to 10 °, but the mercury switch
This is because the space 50 is disposed in the space 16 (between the back cover and the film pressing plate) of the back cover portion of the camera body 200, and thus the space 16 is saved.

As described above, in this embodiment, even if the photographing lens system 220 is photographed right below the horizontal position, the photographing data can be accurately recorded at a predetermined position on the film surface according to the vertical and horizontal positions.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, 222 is an external display section for displaying the recording position of the photographed data, 224 is a setting section for selecting the imprinting mode and for adjusting the time of the built-in quartz clock, and 226 is The viewfinder 228 is a shutter button.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a circuit configuration of a main part of the data imprinting device. In the figure, LCH and LCV are the camera body 20
A horizontal data display unit, which is arranged facing the film surface to be exposed of the film loaded in 0, and in which the date is digitally displayed by the operation of a built-in quartz clock in the horizontal direction of the film surface, the vertical direction. Is also a vertical data display section for digitally displaying the date. A liquid crystal display unit is configured by the horizontal data display unit LCH and the vertical data display unit LCV, and the photographing data set by the setting unit 224 is a horizontal data display unit of the liquid crystal display unit by a drive circuit (not shown). The LCH and vertical direction data are displayed on the LCV.

LH is a lamp for illuminating the horizontal data display section LCH, and LV is a lamp for illuminating the vertical data display section LCV. One end of the lamp LH is connected to one end of the mercury switch 50 via the transistor Q1, and the other end is connected to the anode of the battery via the switch SM that is closed when the shutter button is half pressed.

One end of the lamp LV is connected to the cathode of the battery 320 via the transistors Q2 and Q3, and the other end is connected to the anode of the battery 320 via the switch SM. Transistor Q1,
The bases of Q2 are commonly connected and connected to terminal 300.

Further, the emitter of the transistor Q1 is connected to the base of the transistor Q3 via the resistor 322, and the resistor 310 and the switch S
It is connected to the anode of the battery 320 via M.

In the above-mentioned configuration, the horizontal data display section is provided prior to shooting.
The shooting data input by the setting unit 224 is displayed on the LCH and vertical direction data display unit LCV.

If you hold the camera body 200 horizontally, the mercury switch 5
0 is in the ON state, the transistor Q3 is non-conducting because no bias current is supplied to its base at this point, and the emitter of the transistor Q1 is grounded. When the shutter button 228 is operated in this state, the switch SM
Is closed and a pulse signal indicating the operation timing of the shutter is input from the terminal 300 to the bases of the transistors Q1 and Q2. Here, since the transistor Q3 is non-conductive, only the transistor Q1 is conductive. This results in the lamp LH
The power supply voltage is supplied from the battery 320 to the lamp LH for a time corresponding to the pulse width of the pulse signal, the lateral data display section LCH is illuminated, and the photographed data is imprinted in the lateral direction on the exposed surface of the film. , Will be recorded.

On the other hand, when the camera body 200 is held in the vertical direction, the mercury switch 50 is turned off, the bias current is supplied to the base of the transistor Q3 via the resistors 310 and 322, and the transistor Q3 is turned on and the transistor Q1 is turned off. Becomes

If the shutter button 228 is operated at this time, a pulse signal indicating the shutter operation timing is input from the terminal 300 to the bases of the transistors Q1 and Q2, but a bias voltage is applied in the forward direction between the base and emitter of the transistor Q1. Since this is not done, the transistor Q1 is still non-conductive, and only the transistor Q2 is conductive. As a result, the lamp LV is similarly turned on for a time corresponding to the pulse width of the pulse signal, the vertical data display section LCV is illuminated, and the captured data is vertically recorded and recorded on the exposed surface of the film.

Here, the pulse width of the pulse signal indicating the operation timing of the shutter is determined according to the shooting conditions such as film sensitivity and shutter speed, and the shooting time of the shooting data is adjusted.

In this embodiment, the mercury switch 50 is turned on when the camera is held in the horizontal position (normal position). On the contrary, the mercury switch 50 is turned on in the vertical position. It may be configured to correspond, and this can be achieved by a slight modification of the circuit configuration.

Further, in the present embodiment, a lamp is used as the illumination means for illuminating the liquid crystal display section, but it is not limited to this,
It may be a light emitting diode.

[Effect of device]

As described above, in the present invention, in a mercury switch having a pair of lead wires in a tubular glass container in which mercury is sealed, the outer peripheral surface of the glass container is covered with a heat shrink tube and the heat shrink tube is opened. Since the both ends are sealed with the adhesive, the present invention provides a mercury switch having improved mechanical strength. As a result, the mercury switch according to the present invention can be attached to the back cover or the like as the vertical / horizontal detecting means of the data imprinting device of the camera.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 show a manufacturing process of an embodiment of a mercury switch according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a state before coating a heat-shrinkable tube, and FIG. 2 is related to the present invention. A sectional view showing a completed state of the mercury switch, FIGS. 3 to 5 show an embodiment in which the mercury switch according to the present invention is applied to a data imprinting device, and FIG. 3 shows vertical and horizontal positions in the data imprinting device. FIG. 4 is a rear view of the camera body showing the arrangement of the mercury switch as the detecting means, FIG. 4 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit configuration of a main part of the data imprinting device. 20 ... Heat shrink tube, 30 ... Adhesive, 50 ... Mercury switch, 100 ... Glass container, 102 ... Mercury, 104 ... Lead wire.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-56-52732 (JP, A) JP-A-58-108653 (JP, A) Actually developed JP-A-56-152042 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A mercury switch for detecting the vertical and horizontal positions of a camera, in which the vertical or horizontal direction is selected according to the attitude of the camera and the data is imaged, and at least one pair in a tubular glass container in which mercury is sealed. A mercury switch for a camera, comprising a mercury switch having a lead wire, the outer peripheral surface of the mercury switch being covered with a heat-shrinkable tube, and the open ends of the heat-shrinkable tube being sealed with an adhesive.