JPH08240843A - Camera with flash device built-in - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To automatically house a flash light emitting part with a compact and inexpensive constitution by directly driving a holding member for a flash light emitting part which is turnably attached to the upper part of a camera by the rotation of a driving member. CONSTITUTION: In this camera with a flash device built-in where the flash light emitting part 4 is attached to the camera main body movably up and down, the holding member 5 turnably holds the flash light emitting part 4 on a rotary shaft 36, and the flash light emitting part 4 is moved between a light emitting position separated from the camera and a housing position proximate to the camera. An abutting part 32a provided eccentrically on the rotary shaft of a drive transmitting system 32 rotated by the motor 10 abuts on the holding member 5 by the rotation of the motor 10 to move the holding member 5. By directly driving the holding member 5 turnably holding the flash light emitting part 4 by the rotation of the drive transmitting system 32, the driving mechanism of the flash light emitting part 4 is realized with an extremely simple constitution.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera incorporating a flash device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of camera, there is known one in which a light emitting portion of a flash device is automatically protruded from a camera body (so-called auto pop-up) when a subject brightness is below a predetermined value.

[0003]

However, in such a camera, when the power switch is not turned off and the camera is housed in the case, the inside of the case is dark and the light emitting portion pops up carelessly. Since the inner size of the case is made to match the size of the camera when the light emitting part is not protruding, if the pop-up is done in this way, it will force the mechanism that pops up the light emitting part and damage it. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera in which a light emitting portion does not inadvertently project.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, photometric means for photometrically measuring an object and outputting a photometric signal when the photometric output is in a predetermined state; a flash light emitting section; A light emitting unit drive system that displaces the flash light emitting unit between a separated position away from the camera body and a close position close to the camera body; detects that the release button is half-pressed and outputs a half-press signal In the camera having a half-press detection unit, a control signal is sent to the light-emitting unit drive system when the half-press signal and the low-luminance signal are both generated, and when the half-press signal is not generated, the photometric signal The control means does not generate the control signal even if it occurs.

According to the present invention, the light emitting portion is not popped up unless the release button is pressed halfway. Therefore, even if the light emitting portion is housed in the case without turning off the power switch, the light emitting portion is inadvertently projected. There is nothing to do. Therefore, the pop-up mechanism is not forcibly damaged.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a drive mechanism of a single-lens reflex camera to which the present invention is applied. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1 is a bayonet mount for mounting an interchangeable lens, and 2 is a pentaprism. Reference numeral 3 denotes a flash case in which a light emitting unit of the flash device is housed, and an arc tube 4 is disposed inside the flash case.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a substrate for holding the flash case 3, which is rotatably provided by a shaft 36 with respect to the camera body. The shaft 36 is also coaxially provided on the opposite side 5c of the substrate 5 (not shown). The substrate 5 is urged clockwise in the figure by a spring 34 hung on a pin 35 implanted in the camera body. A shaft 6 is fitted into a part 3 b of the flash case 3, and the flash case 3 is guided by the shaft 6 and is movable in the axial direction of the shaft 6. Both ends of the shaft 6 are fixed by the arm portions 5a and 5b of the substrate 5. A compression spring 7 is provided between the arm 5a and a part 3b of the flash case, and urges the flash case 3 toward the right side in the figure with respect to the substrate 5.

A diffusion plate (not shown) for diffusing irradiation light from the arc tube 4 is fixed to the substrate 5 in front of the flash case 3. Therefore, as described above, the flash case 3
Is moved in the axial direction of the shaft 6, the distance between the arc tube 4 and the diffusion plate is changed, thereby achieving a so-called zoom flash function of changing the flash irradiation angle. A motor 10 is provided in front of the film rewinding section (lower right in the figure) of the camera.
The output is transmitted from the pinion gear 11 to the gear 15 that rotates integrally with the gear 14 via the reduction gear trains 12, 13, and 14. The gear 15 transmits the rotation of the gear 14 and is movable up and down.
With this movement, rotation is transmitted to the gear 18 when the gear 15 is in the lower position and to the gear 40 when the gear 15 is in the upper position.

The gear 15 is a substrate 1 fixed to the camera body.
6 is urged upward by a compression spring 17 provided on the upper surface. In the state shown in FIG. 1, the upper surface of the carrier 15 abuts on a cam surface 42a provided on the lower surface of the operation member 42, which will be described later, and the gear 15 is at the lower side, that is, at the position where it meshes with the gear 18. The rotation transmitted to the gear 18 is further transmitted to the gear 1
9, a bevel gear 20 provided integrally with the gear 19 is transmitted to a gear 24 via bevel gears 22 and 23. A gear 27 meshes with a gear 25 provided integrally with the gear 24, and the gears 25, 27 and the arm 26 constitute a planetary gear mechanism as a switching means. Gear 12 described above
All the shafts ˜15 and 18 to 25 are fixedly mounted on the camera body or a substrate integrally provided with the camera body. The shaft of the gear 27 is fixed to the arm 26.

The gear 28 that can be meshed with the gear 27 is the gear 2
It is provided on the substrate 5 so as to rotate integrally with 9, and the gear 29 further transmits the rotation to the gear 31 via the gear 30. These gears 30 and 31 are also rotatably fitted on a shaft (not shown) provided on the substrate 5.
A pin 31a described later is planted on the gear 31,
The flash case 3 can be engaged with a collar 3a provided at one end. The rotational position of the gear 31 can be detected by the electrical connection between the position detection pattern 31 b provided on the gear 31 and the brush 8 provided on the substrate 5. The pattern 31b and the brush 8 constitute the position detecting means 51.

A gear 32, which engages when the gear 27 is in the position (27) in the figure, is rotatably supported by the camera body, and one surface thereof has an arm portion of the substrate 5 described above. 5
A pin 32a engageable with d is planted. In addition, a position detection pattern 32b is provided on the other surface,
The brush 33 provided on the camera body and the pattern 32b
The rotational position of the gear 32 can be detected by the electrical connection state with the gear. The pattern 32b and the brush 33 constitute a position detecting means 52.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a cover for covering the substrate 5, one end of which is pivotally supported by the camera main body by a pin 39, the other end is separated from the camera main body and a separated position where the flash can be used, and the other end is the camera. It is possible to swing between a proximity position close to the main unit where the flash cannot be used. Further, the cover 37 is a pin 3 provided on the camera body.
9 is urged in a counterclockwise direction in the figure, that is, in a direction to close the cover. The cover 37
A convex portion 37b described later is provided on the inner surface of the.

Reference numeral 42 denotes an operation switch provided on the outer surface of the camera for rewinding the film. The operation switch 42 switches the index 42b to the indices 43 and 44 on the outer surface of the camera to switch the rewind operation. As described above, in the state of FIG. 1 in which the index 42b corresponds to the index 43,
A cam surface 42 a provided on the lower surface of the operation switch 42 pushes the gear 15 downward and meshes with the gear 18. When the index 42b is adjusted to the index 44, the switch 45 is turned on, the engagement between the cam surface 42a and the upper surface of the gear 15 is released, and the gear 15 moves upward by the action of the spring 17 and meshes with the gear 40. The gear 40 further meshes with the gear 41 to rotate a fork portion 41 a provided on the gear 41. The fork 41a engages with a hub at the end of the spool in the 35 mm film cartridge, and rewinds the film into the cartridge at the end of photographing. A switch 46 is turned on when the substrate 5 is in the popped-down state.

Next, the operation of each mechanical portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described individually. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the flash case 3 pops up, that is, a state in which the cover 37 is separated from the camera body and the flash can be used. When the motor 10 is first rotated counterclockwise in this state, the rotation causes the gear 25 to rotate clockwise through the gears 11 to 15 and 18 to 24. Along with this, the arm 26 also rotates clockwise coaxially with the axis of the gear 25, and the gears 27 and 28 mesh with each other so that the gear 28 rotates clockwise. Therefore, the gear 29 also rotates clockwise, and the gear 31 also rotates clockwise via the gear 30.

When the motor 10 rotates clockwise, the gear 25 similarly makes a counterclockwise rotation, whereby the arm 26
And the gears 27 and 28 are disengaged from each other and the gear 27 meshes with the gear 32. Therefore, the gear 32 rotates counterclockwise. Next, the relationship between the flash case 3 and the gear 31 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2A to 2C show the gear 3
1 shows the movement of the flash case 3 with the rotation of 1. Since the reference numerals in the figure correspond to those in FIG. 1, the description is omitted. However, reference numeral 50 indicates a diffusion plate.

In FIG. 2, the gear 31 is driven clockwise by the motor 10. Pin 3 planted by this
1a also moves in the circumferential direction. First, in the state shown in FIG. 2A, the pin 31a is at the position farthest from the diffusion plate 50. At this time, since the flash case 3 is urged rightward by the spring 7, the flange 3a abuts on the pin 31a to determine its position. In this state, the arc tube 4 and the diffusion plate 50 are located farthest from each other, and the flash irradiation angle becomes narrow. This is called a tele-zoom state. At this time, a signal indicating the tele-zoom state (tentatively called a tele-signal) is output from the position detecting means 51.

Next, FIG. 2 (b) shows a state in which the gear 31 is turned clockwise by about 90 °. With the clockwise rotation of the gear 31, the pin 31a pushes the brim portion 3a leftward, and moves the flash case 3 leftward against the biasing force of the spring 7. Figure 2
The position (b) corresponds to an intermediate position between the tele-zoom state and the wide-zoom state described later, and this position is called the normal zoom state. At this time, a normal signal is output from the position detecting means 51 described above.

Further, FIG. 2C shows a state in which the gear 31 is further rotated rightward and the pin 31a is closest to the diffusion plate 50. At this time, the positions of the arc tube 4 and the diffusion plate 50 are closest to each other, and the irradiation angle of the flash becomes wide. This is called a wide zoom state. At this time, a wide signal is output from the position detecting means 51 described above. When the gear 31 rotates further to the right, the flash case 3 moves to the right due to the force of the spring 7,
Return to the state of (a). That is, one rotation of the gear 31 causes the flash case 3 to reciprocate between the telezoom position and the wide zoom position. In this process, when the pin 31a reaches the upper end in FIG. 2, the flash case 3 is at the same position as in FIG. 2B, but at this time, the position detecting means 51 does not output a signal.

Next, the overall movement will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 (a)-(b). In FIG. 3, the transmission system from the motor 10 to the gear 24 in FIG. 1 is omitted. First, FIG. 3A shows a state where the flash case 3 pops up. At this time, the pin 32a implanted in the gear 32 is at the position shown in the figure as described later. 47 in the figure
Is a top cover of the camera, and 48 is an accessory shoe for mounting when using another flash device,
49 is a pin implanted in the camera body.

In the state shown in FIG. 3A, the substrate 5 is urged by the action of the spring 34 shown in FIG. 1 about the shaft 36 in the clockwise direction, that is, in the direction in which the flash case 3 rises. The swing caused by the bias is regulated by the one end 5d of the substrate 5 being brought into contact with the pin 49 implanted in the camera body, and the pop-up state shown in the drawing is formed. At this time, cover 3
7 has its lower surface 37c lifted by the upper portion 5e of the substrate 5, and is turned clockwise about the shaft 37a, and its tip 37 is rotated as shown in the drawing.
d is moved to a position displaced from the end 5f of the substrate 5 by l.
This distance 1 is almost the same as the moving amount 1'from the tele-zoom state to the wide-zoom state of the flash case 3 described above, so that in the pop-up state, as shown by (3) in FIG. A space in which the flash case 3 can be moved to the tele-zoom state is formed between the convex portion 37b of 37 and the convex portion 37b. Here, the spring for urging the cover 37 in the counterclockwise direction shown as 38 in FIG. 1 is sufficiently weaker than the spring 34 for urging the substrate 5 in the clockwise direction, and does not hinder the clockwise rotation of the substrate 5. . In this pop-up state, the switch 46 is off. In this state, the position detecting means 52 shown in FIG. 1 outputs a pop-up signal (up signal).

Now, when the gear 25 is turned clockwise by the motor 10, the arm 26 is also turned clockwise as described above so that the gears 27 and 28 mesh with each other. Then, as the gear 28 rotates clockwise, the flash case 3 moves laterally in the figure, and zooming is performed. Here, consider a case where the zooming is in the wide state, that is, the state shown as 3 in FIG. As the motor 10 is reversed, the gear 25 rotates counterclockwise, and the arm 26 also rotates counterclockwise, so that the engagement between the gears 27 and 28 is released. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2C, the center of the gear 31, the center of the pin 31a, and the contact point P between the pin 31a and the flange 3a of the flash case 3 are on a straight line. The rightward movement is impossible, and the flash case 3 is held in the wide zoom state.
Now, when the arm 26 continues to rotate left, the gear 27 moves to the gear 3
The gear 32 meshing with 2 is rotated counterclockwise. Therefore, the pin 32a planted in the gear 32 also moves, contacts the one end 5d of the substrate 5, and presses the one end 5d to the right in FIG. 3A.
By this pressing, the substrate 5 starts counterclockwise around the shaft 36 against the spring 34 of FIG. 1, and reaches the state of FIG. 3B, that is, the pop-down state.

In this process, the cover 37 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 37a by the action of the spring 38 shown in FIG. 1, and in the pop-down state, the end portion 37d and the end portion 5f of the substrate 5 are substantially aligned with each other. This is a result of the fact that the swing center 36 of the substrate and the swing center 37a of the cover are different from each other, which has the effect of reducing the outer shape of the camera in the pop-down state.

In the pop-down state of FIG. 3 (b), the switch 46 is turned on, and the position detecting means 52 of FIG. 1 outputs a signal indicating pop-down (down signal). After that, when the motor 10 is further turned to the right, the gear 32 is also turned to the left, and the board 5 is turned to the right by the action of the spring 34 in accordance with the movement of the pin 32a, and the state again shifts to the pop-up state of FIG. To do. That is, one rotation of the gear 32 causes the cover 37 to reciprocate between the pop-up position and the pop-down position.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of a camera to which the present invention is applied. In the drawing, 37, 42, 47, and 48 are the members already described, and the description is omitted. Reference numeral 60 denotes a release button. When pressed, the first switch is turned on in the middle of the stroke (this is called a half-press switch), and when further pressed, the second switch is turned on (this is called a release switch). An external display member 61 using a liquid crystal or the like is provided on the upper surface of the camera. The display member 61 displays a shutter speed, an aperture value, a state display of a flash device described later, and the like. Reference numeral 62 denotes a finder observation window, in which a display device is provided. Reference numeral 63 denotes a button for selecting a flash photography mode, which will be described later in detail.

FIGS. 5A to 5F are views showing the display form of the above-mentioned display member. 5A to 5F, the upper stage shows the external display member 61, and the lower stage shows the display form of the display member in the finder. First, the meaning of each display will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5A shows the case where all the flash-related display segments are shown for the sake of explanation, which is different from the display in the actual use state. Further, in FIG. 5, other displays such as shutter speed, which are not directly related to the present invention, are omitted.

First, in FIG. 5A, reference numeral 70 is a segment indicating that the flash photographing mode is in the "auto" state which will be described later, and the display disappears in modes other than the auto mode. The segments 71 and 72 indicate whether or not flash emission is to be performed. When only 71 is displayed and 72 is off, flash emission is performed. 7
When both 1 and 72 are displayed, the flash does not fire. 71 and 72 are displayed on both the external display and the viewfinder display. Reference numeral 73 denotes a segment indicating the charging state of the flash device. In this state, the flash is fired, that is, the display 71 is displayed and the display 72 is turned off. When the display 73 is displayed, the charging is completed. When 73 is not displayed, it indicates that charging is in progress. As described later, a flashing display 73 may be performed in a state where no flash light emission is performed.
This is a display recommending the use of the flash to the photographer (note that this blinking display is indicated by a broken line in FIG. 5). Figure 5 (b)
Each display state shown in (f) to (f) will be described later.

Next, the electric circuit block of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, hoisting control circuits and the like not directly related to the present invention are omitted. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 100 is a microcomputer. The microcomputer 100 includes the switches 45, 46, 63 and the position detecting means 51, 5 described above.
2. The half-press switch 101 and the release switch 102 are connected. The timer 103 provided between the half-press switch 101 and the microcomputer 100 has the half-press switch O
A so-called half-press timer is formed in which the power of the camera is turned on for a certain period of time even after FF. This timer 1
Reference numeral 03 denotes a line 1 for inputting a signal indicating release completion output from the microcomputer together with the half-press switch 101 described above.
11 is also connected.

The operation of the timer 103 will be described. First, when the release button (60 in FIG. 4) of the camera is half-pressed to turn on the half-press switch 101, the timer 103 is constantly reset, and an H level signal is output to the line 113. When the half-push switch 101 is turned off without turning on the release switch 102 (that is, when the finger is released from the release button), the line 111 is connected for several seconds (for example, about 7 seconds) from the time when the release button is turned off. Hold at H level and then drop to L level.

Further, when the release switch 102 is turned on and the photographing operation of the camera is performed, a signal output to 111 is received when the photographing operation is completed, and if the half-push switch 101 is off at that time, then 111 From the point where the signal was received from 111 and from the time when the signal was received from 111 line 1
Hold 13 at H level and then drop to L level. 1
Half-push switch 101 is turned on when the signal is received from 11.
If it is, the half-push switch is turned off as described above.
The line 113 becomes L level in about 7 seconds from the point of time.

A display drive circuit 104 drives the external display device 61 and the in-viewfinder display device 105 in response to a command from the microcomputer. A mode drive circuit 106 drives the above-described motor 10 based on a command from a microcomputer. The finder control circuit 107 is a circuit for controlling light emission of the flash light emitting unit 4 described above, and a signal for starting charging and the like is sent from the microcomputer to the flash control circuit. A signal indicating the completion of charging is sent from the flash control circuit to the microcomputer.

Reference numeral 109 is a flash use determination circuit,
A predetermined analysis is performed on the output from the photometry circuit 108 of the camera, it is determined whether a flash is necessary, and the result is sent to the microcomputer. A focal length information output circuit 110 provided in the interchangeable lens L sends an fmm signal indicating the focal length of the lens to the microcomputer via a line 114.

Next, the operation of the whole of the present embodiment, which is integrally controlled by the microcomputer 100, will be described in detail with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 6 and 7 to 14. First, half-press switch 10
When 1 is turned on, the operation starts from step S1 in FIG. In step S2, a charge start signal is output to the flash control circuit 107. The output of the charge completion signal is stopped when the charging is completed. In step S3, the current flash mode is confirmed. Then, in steps S4 and S5, a branch is made to a control routine corresponding to the current flash mode.

Here, the flash mode will be described. The camera according to the present embodiment has three modes, ie, auto, ON, and OFF, for emitting a flash. The auto mode is a mode in which the camera automatically determines whether or not to emit a flash according to, for example, the brightness of the subject. The ON mode is a mode in which the flash is forcibly emitted regardless of the brightness of the subject. And O
The FF mode is a mode in which flash emission is uniformly inhibited.

Switching between these modes is performed by the switch 63. When the switch 63 is turned on, the processing of the microcomputer shifts to the mode interruption shown in FIG. In this routine, if the current flash mode is auto, turn it on,
If it is ON, it is changed to OFF, and if it is OFF, it is changed to auto.
That is, each time the switch 63 is pressed once, the flash mode is sequentially switched in the order of auto → on → off →. Thereafter, the normal processing is returned to in step S108.

The processing in the auto mode will be described below. FIG. 9 shows the processing in the auto mode. As described above, in this auto mode, the light emitting unit pops up when the brightness of the subject is low, but once popped up, this state is maintained. When the process in the auto mode is started in step S6, it is determined in step S9 whether or not a flash is necessary based on an input from the flash use determination circuit 109.
If the flash is not required, the process proceeds to step S10, and a light emission prohibition command is sent to the flash control circuit 107. Then, in step S11, display segments, that is, 70, 71, 72 in FIG. 5A are displayed. This state is shown in FIG. Then, the process returns to step S9.

If it is determined in step S9 that the flash is necessary, the state of the position detecting means 52 is read in step S12. Then, in step S13, it is determined whether the gear 32 is at the pop-up position. If the gear 32 is not in the up position, the process proceeds to step S14, and the motor 1
When 0 rotates clockwise, the gear 32 rotates as described above to raise the substrate 5. When the up is completed, the process proceeds to step S15, and a signal for permitting flash emission is sent to the flash control circuit 107.

Next, in step S16, the fmm signal indicating the focal length is read from the focal length information output circuit 110 in the lens L, and in step S17, the position of the flash case 3 is read from the position detecting means 51. Then, the two are compared in step S18. If the two do not match, the motor is turned left in step S19 to zoom the flash case 3 as described above.

If they match in step S18, it is determined in step S20 whether or not a signal indicating the completion of charging is output from the flash control circuit 107. If the charging is completed, the display segments 70, 71, 7 are displayed in step S21.
3 is displayed. This state is shown in FIG. If the charging is not completed, the segment 73 is selected in step S22.
Is turned off, and in any of steps S21 and S22, the process is returned to step S9.

As described above, in the operation in the auto mode, the light emitting portion is automatically popped up only in the case of a subject requiring a flash, and the light emitting portion is zoomed in accordance with the focal length of the photographing lens attached. Is performed. Even if the subject changes after popping up once and it is determined that the flash is not needed, the flash is only required and the pop down is not performed. , Pop-down is not frequently done.

Further, since it is displayed to the photographer by the display member whether or not to emit light, the system is easy to use. Next, the ON mode processing will be described. Figure 10
Indicates processing in the ON mode. In FIG. 10, the ON mode process is started in step S7, but steps S23 to S31 are the same as steps S12 to S20 in FIG. That is, in the ON mode, pop-up is performed regardless of the brightness of the subject, zooming of the light emitting unit is performed, and flash light is emitted for each release. FIG. 5 shows the display state of step S32.
It is (d). Step S32 or step S33
In the next step of, the processing is returned to step S27.

FIG. 16 shows an embodiment according to the present invention of processing in the automatic mode. In FIG. 16, it is determined in step S51 whether the half-push switch is ON. If the half-press switch is ON, step S5
Move to 2. Since the processing from step S52 to step S65 is the same as the processing from step S9 to step S22 in FIG. 9, description thereof will be omitted. If the half-press switch is off, the process is stopped, and the pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting unit and the irradiation angle position are maintained in the state immediately before the half-press switch is turned off.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the auto mode, pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting portion and zooming of the light emitting portion are performed only when the half-push switch is ON, and the finger is released from the release button. However, since the power is turned on, it is possible to prevent pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting unit and zooming of the light emitting unit, which are not necessary, because the power is on.

Next, the OFF mode processing will be described. FIG. 11 shows the processing in the OFF mode.
In step S8, the processing of the OFF mode is started. First, in steps S34 and S35, it is determined whether the gear 32 is in the down position. If not in the down position, step S
At 36, the signal of the position detecting means 51 is read, and at step S37, it is determined whether or not the camera is at the wide zoom position.

If it is not in the wide zoom state, the motor is rotated leftward in step S38 to zoom the flash case 3, and the loop returning to step S36 is controlled to drive the wide zoom state. This is a process for achieving compactness in the housed state. When in the wide zoom state, the motor is rotated right in step S39, and the pop-down operation of the substrate 5 is performed as described above. Then, it is driven to the pop-down position by a loop returning to step S34. If it is determined in step S35 that the camera is at the pop-down position, in step S40 the flash control circuit 107 is instructed to prohibit flash emission, and in step S41, the display segments 71 and 72 are first displayed. Further, in step S42, it is determined whether or not the flash emission is necessary. If it is necessary, the photographer's flash recommendation is displayed in step S43, and if it is not necessary, step S44 is performed.
To turn off the display of 73. The display state in step S43 is shown in FIG. 5 (e), and the display state in step S44 is shown in FIG.
(F). After this, the process returns to step S42,
Depending on whether or not a flash is required at that point, the display will be as shown in FIG.
It switches to either (e) or (f).

As described above, in the processing in the OFF mode, if the light emitting portion is popping up, it is first brought down. At this time, as described in the description of FIG. 3, the flash case 3 is driven to the wide position and then the down drive is performed, so that a compact outer shape is achieved in the down state.
Further, after down, the light emission is prohibited and a message to that effect is displayed, and when the flash use determination circuit 109 determines that the flash should be used, the display segment 73 is blinked to prompt the photographer to use the flash. You can prevent shooting mistakes.

The operation in each of the auto, ON, and OFF modes has been described above. When the release switch 102 is turned ON in each mode, the processing shifts to the release interrupt operation and the release operation is performed. The release interrupt may be prohibited when it is not appropriate to perform the release, for example, when charging is not completed in spite of the necessity of flashing while the motor 10 is being driven or in the auto mode or the ON mode.

Next, the operation when the timer 103 is turned off will be described. Half-press switch 10 as described above
The output 113 of the timer 103 switches from H level to L level 7 seconds after 1 is turned off or 1 second after the release operation is completed. In response to this, the microcomputer 100
Shifts to the timer OFF interrupt shown in FIG. In step S111, the timer OFF interrupt process is started.
First, in steps S112 and S113, the current flash mode is confirmed. If the mode is not the auto mode, the process returns to the normal process. In the case of the ON mode, the light emitting unit remains popped up, and in the case of the OFF mode, the light emitting unit keeps popped down.

In the case of the auto mode, step S11
5. In step S116, it is determined whether or not the pop-down position is present. Here, the processing returns to the normal state even when the pop-down position is reached. If it is not in the pop-down position, the processing from step S117 to step S120 is performed, which is step S36 in FIG. 11 described above.
From step S39, the operation of popping down the light emitting unit is performed. Steps S120 to S
When the pop-down is completed by the step of returning to 115, the processing moves from step S116 to step S114, and returns to the normal processing.

The above processing is performed when the light emitting portion pops up in the auto mode and the half-press timer OF the camera is OF.
It indicates that the pop-down operation is automatically performed with F. Thereby, when the photographing is interrupted, the light emitting unit is housed and becomes compact, so that portability is improved. Further, when the flash mode is the ON mode, even if the half-press timer is turned off, it does not pop down with the light emitting portion, so that it is possible to properly use the flash according to the photographer's intention of using the flash.

In this embodiment, this timer is also used for supplying power to the camera, but a timer dedicated to the flash pop-down control may be provided. Further, the operation time of the timer is set to 7 seconds after half-pressing or 1 second after completion of the release operation, but this time may be arbitrarily set or may be variable according to the photographer's preference.

Next, in the present embodiment, the operation when the light emitting portion is forcibly popped down by an external manual force while the light emitting portion is popping up in the auto mode or the ON mode will be described. FIG. 15A shows FIG.
It is the figure of the pop-up state of (a) seen from the back side. The gears 29, 30, 31 are omitted.

In FIG. 15A, 71 is the shaft of the gear 27 planted in the arm 26, and 71a is its head. This head 71a is the arm 26 in FIG.
Turns to the left and when the gears 27 and 28 engage with each other, the head 71a
The outer periphery of the base plate 5 and the end portion 5g of the substrate 5 are in contact with each other, and have a function of maintaining an appropriate axial distance between the gears 27 and 28. The end 5g is an arc centered on the axis of the gear 28.

Now, consider the case where the case 37 is forcibly pushed in the down direction by an external force, that is, the case 37 is rotated right about the shaft 37a. With the clockwise rotation of the case 37, the case lower surface 37c pushes the upper part 5e of the substrate 5, and the substrate 5
Also rotates right about the shaft 36 against the spring 34. Further, since the end 5 g pushes 71 a with the clockwise rotation of the substrate 5, the arm 26 rotates clockwise about the axis of the gear 25.

Further, in the above process, when the flash case 3 is located at a position other than the wide zoom position, the convex portion 37b of the case 37 pushes the rear end of the flash case and resists the spring 7 to move the flash case 3 in place. Move in the wide direction. FIG. 15B shows a state in which the pop-down position is forcibly rotated in this manner. Compared to the case where the light emitting unit is popped down by the motor 10 shown in FIG. 3B, the position of the pin 32a is in the up position and the point that the gear 27 meshes with the gear 28 is different.
Even in the state of FIG. 15 (b), since the axial distance between the gears 27 and 28 is secured by the contact between the end portions 5g and 71a of the substrate 5, when the gear 25 is rotated counterclockwise, the gear 28 is rotated.
Can transmit rotation to.

The switch 46 is turned on in the state of FIG. 15 (b).
Then, the process of the microcomputer 100 shifts to the down interrupt process shown in FIG. This process does not matter whether the pop-down of the light emitting unit is completed electrically by a motor or manually from the outside. That is, regardless of whether the light emitting unit is popped down by electric power or manually, this processing is performed when the pop down is completed.

In FIG. 13, the down interrupt process is started in step S121. First, the state of the gear 32 is determined in steps S122 and S123. here,
When the gear 32 is in the down state, that is, in the position shown in FIG. 3B, the flash emission prohibition is ordered in step S124, and the process returns to the normal process in step S125. this is,
It means that the pop-down of the light emitting part was performed by the motor.

If the gear 32 is not in the down position in step S123, that is, if it is in the state shown in FIG. 15B, the flash mode is uniformly set to the auto mode in step S126. Then, step S12
The process from 7 to step S130 is performed, which is the same as the process from step S36 to step S39 in FIG. In step S128, it is determined whether the light emitting unit is at the wide zoom position. If the light emitting unit is at the wide zoom position, the process proceeds to step S130 to perform a clockwise rotation of the motor.
This is a process performed to match the state of the gear 32 and the state of the substrate 5 according to the detection result of the position detecting means 52. If not in the wide zoom position, step S12
In step 9, the motor is rotated counterclockwise. This is the position detection means 5
This is a process performed to match the state of the gear 31 and the state of the flash case 3 according to the detection result of 1. After this, the process returns to step S127, and finally returns to step S1 by returning from step S130 to step S122.
The process moves to 25.

As described above, when the light emitting portion is first popped down by the motor 10 and the switch 46 is turned on, the step S123 is immediately followed by the step S124.
And branch out of this interrupt process. On the other hand, when the switch 46 is turned on by popping it down by a manual force from the outside, the motor 10 is activated and the normal pop down operation is performed. Therefore, when it is desired to pop down the flash from the popped-up state, it can be popped down by pushing down the cover 37 without pressing the button 63 in FIG. 4 to change the mode, which is convenient.

When the cover 37 is pushed down from the ON mode to change to the pop-down state, the flash mode is automatically restored in step S126. Therefore, the flash mode is automatically restored from the ON mode. It is possible to prevent unnecessary flash emission due to forgetting to return the mode to. In addition, since the pop-down operation is performed entirely by the motor 10, a locking member for holding the substrate 5 at the down position is not necessary, and the cost can be reduced with a simple configuration.

Finally, the film rewinding operation in this embodiment will be described. When the lever 42 shown in FIG. 1 is slid so that the indices 42b and 44 match, the gears 15 and 18 are moved.
Is disengaged and the gear 15 meshes with the gear 40 as described above. At this time, the switch 45
When N, the processing of the microcomputer 100 shifts to the rewind interrupt processing shown in FIG. In this interrupt processing, a rewind interrupt processing is started in step S131. And
In step S132, the motor 10 is turned clockwise to transmit the rotation to the fork portion 41a of the gear 41 to rewind the film. Then, in step S133, it is determined whether the rewind completion is detected by any method. If rewind completion is not detected, step S132.
If it is detected, the process returns to the normal process as step S134. There are various well-known methods for detecting the completion of rewind, such as providing a switch for detecting the loading state of the film, and the description thereof is omitted here.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the irradiation angle conversion of the light emitting unit and the pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting unit are not directly driven by the rotational force of the motor, but the biasing force of the spring is applied. Since the camera is used, a highly safe camera can be provided without imposing an unreasonable load on the transmission system even when the pop-up light emitting unit is pushed down by hand.

Further, in this embodiment, the flash case is reciprocated once between the wide zoom position and the telezoom position by rotating the motor in one direction, and the flash light emitting unit is rotated in the other direction by rotating the motor in the other direction. For example, when the flash light emitting portion is displaced from the pop-down position to the pop-down position and then to the pop-down position again, another clutch is not required.

[0064]

As described above, according to the present invention, the light emitting portion does not pop up unless the release button is pressed halfway. Therefore, even if the light emitting portion is housed in the case without turning off the power switch, The light emitting portion is not made to project carelessly. Therefore, the pop-up mechanism is not forcibly damaged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drive mechanism of a camera with a built-in flash device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of an irradiation angle conversion drive system.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a light emitting unit drive system.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the camera with a built-in flash device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display mode in flash mode.

FIG. 6 is an electrical block diagram of a camera with a built-in flash device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a mode interrupt process of the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing in the automatic mode of the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing in the ON mode of the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing in the OFF mode of the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a timer OFF interrupt process of the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a light emitting unit pop-down interrupt process of the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the rewind interrupt processing of the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a light emitting unit drive system, showing a case where the light emitting unit is manually forced to pop down.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the processing of the auto mode according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 ... Flash case 4 ... Flash emission part 5 ... Substrate 7 ... Spring 10 ... Motor 25, 27 ... Gear 26 ... Arm 31 ... Gear 31a ... Pin 34 ... Spring 37 ... Cover 50 ... Diffusion plate

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 28, 1996

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Claims]

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0002

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a camera in which a stroboscopic light emitting section is linearly movable between a light emitting position away from the camera and a storage position close to the camera. For example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-75232, a first spring for urging the stroboscopic light emitting portion in the projecting direction is provided on the support of the light emitting portion, and the urging force is greater than the urging force of the first spring. A second spring is provided on the drive lever. Then, there is disclosed a camera with a built-in strobe that is configured to urge the strobe light emitting portion in the storage direction via the drive lever by the urging force of the second spring. The drive lever is driven by a cam plate rotated by a motor, the drive lever is rotated by the rotation of the cam plate to limit the urging force of the second spring, and the urging force of the first spring causes the light emitting portion to project. By further rotating the cam plate, the drive lever is moved to restore the biasing force of the second spring, and the light emitting portion is stored.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0003

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0003]

In the conventional camera as described above, it is possible to automatically project and store the light emitting portion, but the structure for that purpose is complicated, and the size and cost of the device are increased. It was supposed to.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0004

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera capable of automatically accommodating a flash light emitting portion with a compact and low-cost mechanism.

[Procedure Amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the invention according to claim 1, a flash light emitting section (4) is attached to the camera body so that it can be moved up and down (flash drive section driving mechanism of the camera). In the built-in camera, the flash light emitting unit is rotatably held with respect to a predetermined first rotation shaft (36), and the flash light emitting unit is moved between a light emitting position away from the camera and a storage position close to the camera. Possible holding member (5), motor (10), drive transmission system (32) rotated by the motor, and provided eccentrically with respect to the second rotation shaft of the drive transmission system and held by rotation of the motor And a contact portion (32a) that contacts the member and moves the holding member. The invention according to claim 2 further comprises a biasing means (34) for maintaining the holding member (5) in the light emitting position, and the abutting part (32a) is biased by the biasing means by the rotation of the motor (10). Against this, the holding member is moved to the storage position. Further, in the invention according to claim 3, the drive transmission system (32) is provided on the side of the finder optical system (2) of the camera, and the second rotation axis is parallel to the first rotation axis (36). In the invention according to claim 1, since the holding member that rotatably holds the flash light emitting portion is directly driven by the rotation of the drive transmission system, the drive mechanism of the flash light emitting portion can be realized with an extremely simple configuration. It will be possible. Further, in the invention according to claim 2, since the urging means for urging the holding member to the light emitting position is provided, it is possible to realize the drive mechanism capable of performing the up operation of the flash light emitting portion with a simple configuration. Further, in the invention according to claim 3,
The drive mechanism can be made compact, and the camera can be made compact.

[Procedure correction 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0064

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0064]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the holding member rotatably attached to the upper portion of the camera is directly driven by the rotation of the driving member, the automatic accommodation of the flash light emitting unit is extremely simple. It can be realized at low cost with a simple configuration. In particular, it is effective when applied to a single-lens reflex camera that does not have a space for linearly moving a light emitting portion up and down as in the related art.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A photometric device for photometrically measuring an object and outputting a photometric signal when the photometric output is in a predetermined state; a flash light emitting section; and a separated position where the flash light emitting section is separated from a camera body. A half-push detection means for detecting a half-push of the release button and outputting a half-push signal, When both the push signal and the low-luminance signal are generated, a control signal is sent to the light emitting unit drive system, and when the half-press signal is not generated, the control signal is not generated even if a photometric signal is generated. And a flash device built-in camera.