JPH08149437A - Video telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a video telephone system which can easily control the pickup direction and position of a transmitting image. CONSTITUTION: An image pickup device 20 is rotatably buried at almost the center of the front edge part of the device main body 2 having an oblong flat case structure. A video telephone system 1 of such a constitution is put on a hosehold TV set, etc., with the device 20 set close to the TV screen. Then the pickup direction and position of a transmitting image can easily be controlled by the rotation of the device 20. Thus a person who is watching the images received and displayed on the TV screen can be photographed at a natural angle and then transmitted. The side face part of the casing of the device 20 has a global shape through an almost entire part covering the places near the upper end through the lower one of the casing. Then the device 20 is supported so that the curvature center of the side face part serves as the rotational center of the device 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a videophone device, and more particularly to a videophone device equipped with an image pickup device for picking up a transmission image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a videophone device has an image pickup device such as a CCD camera, an image display device such as a CRT or LCD, and a call function. Then, while displaying the image information from the other party sent via the public line on the image display device, the image information captured by the image pickup device is transmitted to the other party via the public line, thereby viewing each other. I am able to talk.

[0003]

However, in the conventional videophone device, the image pickup device is fixed to the main body of the videophone device. Therefore, when adjusting the image pickup direction and the image pickup position of the transmission image pickup, the image pickup device and the image pickup device are individually arranged. There is a problem that the direction of the image pickup device must be adjusted by moving the image pickup device.

Therefore, the present invention provides a videophone device capable of easily adjusting the image pickup direction and image pickup position of a transmission image without moving the main body of the device, and at the same time, it can be easily connected to a home-use television or telephone. It is an object of the present invention to provide a videophone device capable of constructing a videophone system.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the first videophone device of the present invention is premised on a videophone device having an image pickup device for picking up a transmission image at the front edge of the device body. In the image pickup device, an image pickup body which converts an optical image into an electric signal and a lens which forms an optical image on a light receiving surface of the image pickup body are housed in a housing having a light incident window on a front surface thereof. In the housing, the side surface portion from the vicinity of the upper end to the vicinity of the lower end is formed into a spherical shape over substantially the entire circumference, and the curvature center of the side surface portion is substantially the rotation center thereof. It is characterized in that it is provided so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable with respect to the above (Claim 1).

Further, the second video telephone device of the present invention is
Assuming a videophone device that is connected between a telephone and a telephone line and that constructs a videophone system by connecting an external image display device and an external audio output device, An image pickup device is embedded in the center of the front edge so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable, and a telephone side connection terminal for connecting a telephone and an image signal from the image pickup device are connected to a telephone line on the back side of the device body. A telephone line side connection terminal for outputting, a reception image output terminal for outputting an image signal from the telephone line to an external image display device, and an audio signal from the telephone line to an external audio output device And a reception voice output terminal for performing the operation are arranged in parallel (claim 2).

Also in the second videophone device, the image pickup device has an image pickup body for converting an optical image into an electric signal in a housing having a light incident window on the front surface thereof, and a light receiving surface of the image pickup body. The housing houses a lens for forming an image, and the side surface portion of the casing from the vicinity of the upper end to the vicinity of the lower end is formed into a spherical shape over substantially the entire circumference, and the center of curvature of the side surface portion is almost the same. It is desirable to be provided so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body so as to be the center of rotation (claim 3).

Further, in these first and second videophone devices, an up-and-down movable mechanism that supports the casing in a vertically rotatable manner with respect to the device body, and the up-and-down movable mechanism in the device body. On the other hand, it is desirable to have a horizontally movable mechanism which is supported so as to be rotatable in the left-right direction (claim 4).

Further, it is desirable that an operation portion for adjusting the focus of the lens is provided on the upper end surface portion of the housing (claim 5).

[0010]

According to the first videophone device, the side surface portion from the vicinity of the upper end to the vicinity of the lower end of the casing of the image pickup device is formed into a spherical shape over substantially the entire circumference, and the casing has the side surface portion. Since the center of curvature is provided so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable with respect to the device body so that the center of curvature is substantially the center of rotation, the casing is spherically rotated and transmitted without moving the videophone device body. It is possible to easily adjust the image capturing direction and the image capturing position of the image.

Further, according to the second videophone device, since the image pickup device is rotatably embedded substantially in the center of the front edge of the device body having the horizontally long flat box structure, the videophone device is used as a home-use television. When it is installed and used on an image pickup device, the image pickup device is arranged near the TV screen, and the image pickup direction and the image pickup position of the transmission image can be easily adjusted by rotating the image pickup device. Therefore, it is possible to capture the person watching the received video displayed on the television screen from a natural angle and transmit the transmission image.

According to the second videophone device, the telephone line-side connection terminal on the rear surface of the main body of the device is connected to the telephone line, the telephone-side connection terminal is connected to the telephone, and the received image output terminal is input to the external image display device. By connecting the reception audio output terminal to the audio input terminal of the external audio output device (speaker), the videophone system can be constructed easily and inexpensively.

Also in this second videophone device, the side surface portion from the vicinity of the upper end to the vicinity of the lower end of the casing of the image pickup device is formed into a spherical shape over substantially the entire circumference, and the casing is the side surface portion. The housing is provided so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body such that the center of curvature is substantially the center of rotation, so that the housing is spherically rotated and the imaging direction and imaging position of the transmission image are adjusted. Can be easily adjusted.

Further, in these first and second videophone devices, a vertically movable mechanism for supporting the casing in a vertically rotatable manner with respect to the device body, and the vertically movable mechanism with respect to the device body. By providing a horizontally movable mechanism that is rotatable in the left-right direction, the vertical movement of the vertically movable mechanism and the left-right rotation of the horizontal movable mechanism are combined, and The housing can be rotated spherically.

Further, by providing an operation section for adjusting the focus of the lens on the upper end surface of the housing which is rotated in this way, the image pickup direction and the image pickup position are adjusted and the lens focus is adjusted. And can be performed simultaneously with one hand, and operability can be improved.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the videophone device according to the present invention will be described below. First, the external structure of the videophone device of this embodiment will be mainly described.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the entire structure of the videophone device of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device shown in FIG.
3 is a front view, FIG. 4 is a left side view, and FIG. 5 is a rear view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the videophone device 1 of the present embodiment has a rectangular box-shaped device main body 2 in which an image pickup unit 3 is embedded in the center of the front edge of the device main body 2 for use in a home-use television. It is configured to be wide and thin so that it can be placed stably on top of it. By the way, the width D of the video telephone 1 according to the present embodiment.
1 is about 274 mm, height D2 is about 65 mm, depth D3
Is about 178 mm.

The apparatus main body 2 comprises a lower case 4 on which the image pickup unit 3 and other main parts are mounted, and an upper case 5 covering the lower case 4.

The front surface 5a of the upper case 5 forming the front surface of the apparatus main body 2 is formed in a gentle convex curved shape from both left and right end portions to the middle portion, and the side surface shape of the main body 20 of the image pickup unit 3 is formed in the middle portion. A combined circular recess 5b is provided. A switch button 6 and a remote control light receiving window 7 are provided adjacent to each other on the right end of the front surface of the upper case 5.

A filter 29 which mainly transmits infrared light is attached to the remote control light receiving window 7. Then, behind the switch button 6 and the remote control light receiving window 7, a front switch 36, which will be described later, mounted on the lower case 4 side.
And the infrared sensor 37 are arranged respectively.

As shown in FIG. 5, a power switch 8, a power supply terminal (AC100V) 9, a line image input terminal 10, and a rear video input terminal 10 are provided on the back surface 4a of the lower case 4 which forms the back surface of the apparatus main body 2.
Line audio input terminal 11, line video output terminal 12, line audio output terminal 13, microphone input terminal 14, microphone audio level adjustment switch 15, line audio level adjustment switch 16, telephone side connection terminal 17, and telephone line side connection The terminals 18 are arranged side by side in a row.

Further, at the four corners of the lower surface 4a of the lower case 4,
A columnar leg 19 made of a cushioning material such as rubber is provided so as to project. Lower case 4 of leg 19 of this videophone device 1
The projection length d from the lower surface 4a of the lower case 4 is taken into consideration in consideration of the curvature of the upper surface of various home-use televisions that are currently popular, so that the lower surface of the lower case 4 does not come into contact with the upper surface of the television. It is designed to be longer than the protruding length of the equipment leg. By the way, the leg 19 of the videophone device 1 of the present embodiment.
The protrusion length d of is about 6 mm.

The unit main body (image pickup device) 20 of the image pickup unit 3 has a shape such that an upper part and a lower part of a sphere are cut out in parallel, and the front surface of the side portion 20a formed in a spherical shape is the main body 2 of the device. Slightly protrudes from the front surface 5a.
Then, a light incident window 21 is formed on the front surface of the side portion 20a of the unit body 20, and a transparent lens cover 22 is attached.

The upper surface 20b of the unit main body 20 slightly projects from the upper surface 5c of the apparatus main body 2. Then, on the upper surface 20b of the unit body 20, three elongated holes 23, 24, 25 are formed in parallel with the surface of the light incident window 21. A focus adjustment ring 28 of a standard lens unit 54, which will be described later, provided in the unit body 20 is inserted into the rearmost long hole 23, and a part of the focus adjustment ring 28 is attached to the upper surface 20b of the unit body 20. More prominent.

Further, slide-type switches (operating bodies) 26 and 27 are attached to the two front long holes 24 and 25, respectively. The foremost switch 26 is a shutter operation switch for operating a lens shutter 56 described later, and the other one is an angle-of-view switching switch for operating a wide-angle lens 55 described later to switch the angle of view.

Next, the internal structure of the videophone device of this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the video telephone 1 with the upper case 5 removed, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the image pickup unit 3, and FIG. 8 is a side view of the same. As shown in FIG. 6, the lower case 4 has the imaging unit 3 mounted in the front center portion thereof, and the power supply unit 31 mounted on the left side of the imaging unit 3. A digital circuit board 32 and an analog circuit board 33 are mounted on the right side and the rear side of the image pickup unit 3. In this case, the digital circuit board 32 is arranged near the bottom of the lower case 4, and the analog circuit board 33 is arranged above it. Then, both circuit boards 32,
33 are connected to each other by a multi-pin connector (not shown).

An electromagnetic shield plate 34 is provided between the digital circuit board 32 and the analog circuit board 33 in order to prevent the two boards from electromagnetically affecting each other. Further, outside the digital circuit board 32 and the analog circuit board 33, an electromagnetic shield plate 35 is provided to prevent electromagnetic influence from the outside.

The digital circuit board 32 is provided with an image signal processing circuit for processing image signals from an image pickup circuit board 53, which will be described later, provided in the image pickup unit 3 and an image signal sent via a communication line. A memory circuit is mainly mounted. The image signal processing circuit has a white balance automatic adjustment function.

The analog circuit board 33 is mainly equipped with an input / output circuit for inputting / outputting an image signal and a sound signal to / from an external device described later, and a communication circuit for transmitting / receiving a signal via a communication line. A front switch 36 and an infrared sensor 37 are mounted on the front right end portion thereof.

The above-mentioned power supply terminal (AC100V) 9, line video input terminal 10, line audio input terminal 11, line video output terminal 12, line audio output terminal 13, microphone input terminal 14, microphone audio level adjustment switch 15, line The voice level adjusting switch 16, the telephone side connection terminal 17, and the telephone line side connection terminal 18 are mounted on the rear edge of the analog circuit board 33. The power switch 8 is provided on the back surface of the power supply unit 31.

The unit main body 20 is attached to the lower case 4 via a movable mechanism 38 so as to be rotatable vertically and horizontally. The movable mechanism 38 supports a vertically movable mechanism 39 that supports the unit main body 20 in a vertically rotatable manner with respect to the lower case 4, and a vertically movable mechanism 39 that supports the vertically movable mechanism 39 in a horizontally rotatable manner with respect to the lower case 4. And a horizontally movable mechanism 40.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the vertically movable mechanism 39 has a U-shaped fixing metal fitting 42 fixed in a lower portion of a lower case (hereinafter referred to as a unit lower case) 41 of the unit main body 20. And a U-shaped support fitting 43 that supports the fixing fitting 42 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. The fixed metal fitting 42 and the support metal fitting 43 are rotatably connected to each other by hinge-connecting their respective tip ends with a connecting pin 44, and the rotation center axis thereof is orthogonal to the optical axis of a standard lens unit 54 described later. It is aligned with the horizontal center axis of the unit body 20.

The vertical rotation range of the unit main body 20 is limited to the locking portions 4 formed on both sides of the unit lower case 41.
It is limited by the fact that 1a and 41b contact the arm portion 43b of the support fitting 43. In the case of the structure of this embodiment, the unit body 20 can be rotated up and down by about 20 degrees.

The horizontally movable mechanism 40 includes a semi-circular support plate 46 fixed to the bottom of the lower case 4 and the support fitting 43.
The central portion of the bottom portion 43a of the above is rotatably connected to each other by a connecting pin 47. The rotation center axes of the support plate 46 and the support fitting 43 are made to coincide with the vertical center axis of the unit main body 20 orthogonal to the optical axis of the standard lens unit 54 described later.

Further, on the bottom side portion 43a of the support fitting 43,
A semicircular guide plate 47 having a diameter smaller than that of the support plate 46 is integrally provided. Then, the arcuate peripheral edge portion 47a of the guide plate 47 is engaged with the flange portions 48a of the engaging pins 48 projectingly provided at two positions of the arcuate peripheral edge portion of the support plate 46, so that the rattling of the support fitting 43 is prevented. To prevent.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, locking pins 50a and 50b are provided so as to project in the vicinity of both end portions on the front side of the support plate 46. Then, when the support fitting 43 and the support plate 46 are rotated leftward and rightward, the bottom portion 43a of the support fitting 43 is rotated.
The left and right abutting portions 51a and 51b formed on the
By abutting 0a and 50b on each other, the rotation range of the unit main body 20 in the left-right direction is limited. In the case of the structure of this embodiment, the unit main body 20 can be rotated to the left and right up to about 20 degrees. In addition, in FIG.
3 is fixed and the support fitting 43 is rotated left and right. In the figure, the state indicated by the one-dot chain line corresponds to the state where the unit main body 20 has rotated to the right rotation limit, and the state indicated by the two-dot chain line indicates that the unit main body 20 has reached the left rotation limit. It corresponds to the rotated state.

As described above, the vertically movable mechanism 39 that supports the unit main body 20 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction with respect to the lower case 4, and the vertically movable mechanism 39 is supported so as to be rotatable in the lateral direction with respect to the lower case 4. The horizontal movable mechanism 40 for rotating the unit main body 20 is combined with the vertical rotation by the vertical movable mechanism 39 and the horizontal rotation by the horizontal movable mechanism 40 to rotate the unit main body 20 spherically. Device body 2
The posture of the unit main body 20 with respect to can be variously changed.

FIG. 10 shows the unit body 2 as described above.
A side sectional view of the image pickup unit 3 in which 0 is rotatably held is shown. As shown in FIG.
An image pickup circuit board 53 having a CCD 52, which is an image pickup body, is provided therein, and a standard lens unit 54, which is a first lens, and a first lens unit 54 are provided between the CCD 52 and the light incident window 21 on the front surface of the unit body 20. Wide-angle lens 55 that is the second lens
And a lens shutter 56 are arranged.

The image pickup circuit board 53 and the standard lens unit 54 are fixed to the unit lower case 41. The standard lens unit 54 is arranged with its optical axis aligned with the center of the light receiving surface of the CCD 52, and the focus adjustment ring 2
By rotating the lens 8, the lens can be focused on an arbitrary distance to form an image on the light receiving surface of the CCD 52.

The wide-angle lens 55 is the standard lens unit 5
The lens holder 58 is supported by a support pin 57 at the bottom of the lens 4 and is rotated by a tip of a lens holder 58 that rotates in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the lens system of the standard lens unit 54. By rotating, the wide-angle lens 55 can be projected and retracted on the optical axis of the lens system of the standard lens unit 54.

On the other hand, the angle-of-view changeover switch 27 provided in the unit upper case 59 of the image pickup unit 20 converts the linear movement of the angle-of-view changeover switch 27 into the rotational movement of the lens holder 58. A transmission mechanism 60 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 11, the transmission mechanism 60 has an inverted U-shaped lens accommodating portion 62 formed at the lower end of a resin sliding member 61 fixed to the angle-of-view changeover switch 27. The accommodating portion 62 is loosely fitted to the outer peripheral portion of the wide-angle lens 55 held by the lens holding body 58 from above. The sliding member 61 has a brim-shaped sliding portion 63 formed near the upper end thereof movably supported by a holding plate 64 attached to the ceiling surface of the unit upper case 59, and together with the angle-of-view change switch 27. The lens holder 58 is moved to rotate the lens holder 58 left and right.

The rotation range of the lens holder 58 is limited by the movable range of the angle-of-view change switch 27 to the left and right, that is, the length of the slot 24. Then, in this case, when the angle-of-view change switch 27 is moved to the left-side movement limit position, the wide-angle lens 55 is arranged such that the optical axes of the wide-angle lens 55 and the standard lens unit 54 coincide with each other, as shown in FIG. 11B. Is designed to be.

Further, a positioning ring 65 that rotates integrally with the lens holding body 58 is fitted to the support pin 57 that pivotally supports the lens holding body 58, and the positioning ring 65 has two outer peripheral portions at two locations. By engaging and disengaging the locking piece 66 made of an elastic body extending from the fixing portion (not shown) in the formed recesses 65a and 65b, the user is given a reliable click feeling when the angle of view is switched. .

As shown in FIG. 12, in the lens shutter 56, a shield plate 68 larger than the opening of the light incident window 21 is integrally formed under a sliding member 67 made of resin fixed to the shutter operation switch 26. It becomes. The sliding member 67 has a brim-shaped sliding portion 69 formed in the vicinity of the upper end thereof movably supported by a holding plate 64 attached to the ceiling surface of the unit upper case 59.
6 and moves the shield plate 68 behind and behind the lens cover 22 of the light incident window 21. The plate thickness of the shielding plate 68 portion of the lens shutter 56 is designed to be a thickness capable of transmitting white light of a light amount that allows white balance adjustment.

The movable range of the lens shutter 56 is limited by the movable range of the shutter operation switch 26 to the left and right, that is, the length of the long hole 25. Then, in this case, when the shutter operation switch 26 is moved to the right movement limit position, as shown in FIG.
8 is designed to be placed in a position to completely close the light incident window 21.

Next, the operation of the videophone device 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

FIG. 13 shows an example of usage of the videophone device 1 of the present embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration.
In the case of this example, the telephone line side connection terminals 18 of both videophone devices 1 are connected to the public line, the telephone side connection terminals 17 are connected to the telephone, the line video output terminal 12 is connected to the home TV video input terminal, and the line audio output is performed. By connecting the terminals 13 to the audio input terminals of the home-use television, respectively, a videophone system can be constructed extremely easily and inexpensively.

Since the image pickup unit 3 is provided on the front part of the thin box-shaped device body 2 in the videophone device 1 of the present embodiment, it is used by installing it on a home TV or the like as shown in FIG. In this case, the image pickup unit 3 can be arranged near the TV screen. Therefore, it is possible to capture the person watching the received video displayed on the television screen from a natural angle and transmit the transmission image.

Further, the image pickup unit main body 20 is replaced with the apparatus main body 2
Since it is rotatably provided, the image pickup direction and image pickup position of the transmission image can be easily adjusted by rotating the image pickup unit body 20 without moving the apparatus body 2.

Further, by operating the view angle changeover switch 27 of the image pickup unit main body 20, the image pickup view angle can be easily changed from the standard angle to the wide angle or from the wide angle to the standard. An appropriate angle of view can be selected.

By operating the shutter operation switch 26, the lens can be shielded by the shield plate 67 of the lens shutter 56. Therefore, it is possible to stop sending an image as necessary while keeping the transmission state. it can.

By mechanically blocking the front of the lens with the shielding plate 68 in this manner, the lens itself can be completely hidden as shown in FIG. 14, and as a result, a sense of security that an image has not been sent is obtained. Can be given to the user. On the other hand, when the transmission of the image is stopped by the electric method, the lens in the image pickup unit main body 20 can be seen through the lens cover 22 as shown in FIG. 3, so that the image may still be transmitted. It will give you anxiety.

Further, since the shielding plate 68 which transmits the white light of such an amount that the white balance can be adjusted is used, by closing the lens shutter 56 and switching the video telephone 1 to the white balance adjusting mode. , White balance can be adjusted very easily. Since the lens shutter 56 is provided in the image pickup unit main body 20, it is possible to prevent the shielding plate 68 and the like from being soiled or scratched, and always perform accurate white balance adjustment.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, FIG. 13 shows the most basic system configuration in which a home-use television and a telephone are connected to the videophone device 1, but the videophone device 1 of this embodiment includes a microphone input terminal 14. Therefore, an external microphone can be used instead of the handset of the telephone to allow a plurality of people to talk at the same time. Further, since the line video input terminal 10 and the line audio input terminal 11 are provided, V
It is also possible to transmit video images and audio from an external device such as TR.

Further, in the above embodiments, a CRT or LCD is used.
As an example, a videophone device that does not include image display means such as the above and audio input / output means such as a microphone and a speaker but constructs a videophone system by connecting with an external device having these functions has been described. However, the videophone device of the present invention can be applied to all videophone devices provided with an imaging device for imaging a transmission image. Moreover, the numerical values and the like disclosed in the present embodiment are merely examples, and can be changed as necessary.

[0059]

In summary, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be exhibited. (1) According to the videophone device of claim 1, the side surface portion from the vicinity of the upper end to the vicinity of the lower end of the casing of the imaging device for capturing the transmission image is formed in a spherical shape over substantially the entire circumference, Since the case is provided so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable with respect to the apparatus body such that the center of curvature of the side surface is substantially the center of rotation, the case can be moved without moving the main body of the videophone apparatus. It is possible to easily adjust the image pickup direction and the image pickup position of the transmission image by rotating the ball spherically.

(2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the image pickup device is rotatably embedded substantially in the center of the front edge of the device body of the horizontally long flat box structure, When installed and used on a home TV, etc., the imaging device is arranged near the TV screen, and the imaging direction and imaging position of the transmitted image can be easily adjusted by rotating the imaging device. . Therefore, it is possible to capture the person watching the received video displayed on the television screen from a natural angle and transmit the transmission image.

Further, according to the videophone device, the telephone line side connection terminal on the back of the main body of the apparatus is a telephone line, the telephone side connection terminal is a telephone, and the received image output terminal is an image input terminal of an external image display storage. By connecting the reception voice output terminal to the voice input terminal of the external voice output device, a videophone system can be constructed easily and inexpensively.

(3) According to the videophone device of claim 3, the imaging device of the videophone device of (2) is spherically rotated to easily adjust the imaging direction and imaging position of the transmitted image. can do.

(4) According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a vertically movable mechanism for supporting the casing of the image pickup device so as to be vertically rotatable with respect to the device body, and the vertically movable mechanism as a device. By including a horizontal movable mechanism that supports the main body so as to be rotatable in the left-right direction, by combining the vertical movement by the vertical movement mechanism and the horizontal movement by the horizontal movement mechanism, The posture of the imaging device with respect to the device body can be changed in various ways.

(5) According to the videophone device of the fifth aspect, the operation direction for adjusting the focus of the lens is provided on the upper end surface portion of the casing of the image pickup device, whereby the image pickup direction and The adjustment of the imaging position and the focus adjustment of the lens can be simultaneously performed with one hand, and the operability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the overall structure of an embodiment of a videophone device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the television power device shown in FIG.

3 is a front view of the videophone device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the videophone device shown in FIG.

5 is a rear view of the videophone device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the videophone device shown in FIG. 1 with an upper case removed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an image pickup unit of the videophone device shown in FIG.

8 is a side view of the image pickup unit shown in FIG. 7. FIG.

9 is a plan view of a movable mechanism of the imaging unit shown in FIG.

10 is a side sectional view of the image pickup unit shown in FIG.

11 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a view angle switching mechanism of the image pickup unit shown in FIG.

12 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a lens shutter mechanism of the image pickup unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of usage of the videophone device shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a front view of the videophone device shown in FIG. 1 when a lens shutter is used.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Videophone device 2 Device body 3 Imaging device 12 Line video output terminal 13 Line audio output terminal 14 Microphone input terminal 17 Telephone side connection terminal 18 Telephone line side connection terminal 21 Light incident window 22 Lens cover 28 Focus adjustment ring (operation part) 32 Digital Circuit Board 33 Analog Circuit Board 38 Moving Mechanism 39 Vertical Moving Mechanism 40 Horizontal Moving Mechanism 41 Unit Lower Body Case (Housing) 52 CCD (Imaging Body) 54 Standard Lens Unit 55 Wide Angle Lens 59 Lower Unit Body (Housing) 68 Shield plate (shield)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A videophone device comprising an image pickup device for picking up a transmission image at a front edge of a device body, wherein the image pickup device stores an optical image in a housing having a light incident window on a front surface thereof. An image pickup body for converting into an electric signal and a lens for forming an optical image on the light receiving surface of the image pickup body are housed, and the case has a side surface extending from near the upper end to near the lower end over substantially the entire circumference. And a spherical shape, and is provided so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable with respect to the main body of the apparatus such that the center of curvature of the side surface is substantially the center of rotation. . 2. A videotelephone device which is connected between a telephone and a telephone line and which constructs a videophone system by connecting an external image display device and an external audio output device. An image pickup device is embedded in the front edge of the main body of the structure so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable, and a telephone-side connection terminal for connecting a telephone is provided on the rear face of the device main body. A telephone line side connection terminal for outputting an image signal to a telephone line, a reception image output terminal for outputting an image signal from the telephone line to the external image display device, and an audio signal from the telephone line. A videophone device, comprising: a reception voice output terminal for outputting to the external voice output device, and a reception voice output terminal arranged in parallel. 3. The image pickup device comprises an image pickup body for converting an optical image into an electric signal and a lens for forming an optical image on a light receiving surface of the image pickup body, in a housing having a light incident window on a front surface thereof. The housing is formed so that the side surface portion from the vicinity of the upper end to the vicinity of the lower end is formed into a spherical shape over substantially the entire circumference, and the center of curvature of the side surface portion is substantially the center of rotation thereof. The videophone device according to claim 2, wherein the videophone device is provided so as to be vertically and horizontally rotatable with respect to the device body. 4. An up-and-down movable mechanism that supports the casing in a vertically rotatable manner with respect to the apparatus body, and a horizontal mechanism that supports the vertically-movable mechanism in a horizontally rotatable manner with respect to the apparatus body. The videophone device according to claim 3, further comprising a movable mechanism. 5. The videophone device according to claim 1, further comprising an operation section for adjusting a focus of the lens, provided on an upper end surface portion of the housing.