JPH09105977A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the light shielding ability by eliminating the need of forming a film window in a camera main body and to easily view film information by installing a storing means so that information on the kind of film may be stored, and displaying the information on an external display part at an appropriate timing. SOLUTION: ISO, information on the maximum allowable number of photographed sheets, the information on the kind of film are read from a film cartridge by a film cartridge information reader 3 by introducing a bar code information reading system etc. And, the camera is provided with the information storing device 4 for storing the information on the kind of film etc., read by the cartridge information reader 3. The information on the kind of the film etc., is displayed on a display unit 6 when the contents information is read, when AL(auto-loading) is in a normal state, when a film contents display mode is set, and when a film status mode is set. Thus, it is unnecessary to form the film window in the camera main body and the ability of shielding the film from the light is remarkably enhanced, and also, the photographer can surely view the film information on the large display of the display unit 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera for reading film information from a loaded film cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as means for informing a photographer of the type of film inserted in a camera, a window is provided in the camera body so that information written on the side of the film cartridge can be seen from the outside. The attachment method is adopted. This method was an excellent means of providing information, because information such as the type of film can be provided without requiring a special reading circuit.

[0003]

However, in this case, when a window (hereinafter abbreviated as film window) indicating the type of film currently inserted in the camera body is provided,
It is necessary to take more thorough measures on the light-shielding surface. Also,
The information written on the side surface of the film cartridge is small in area and cannot be said to be a sufficient display for a person with poor eyesight to identify. As a measure against the size of the display unit, a method of incorporating a lens into a film window to solve the problem is well known, but in this case, the above measures against light shielding must be more thorough, There is a problem in that the film may be deteriorated by condensing external light on the cartridge and heating the film cartridge.

Accordingly, an object of the invention described in claim 1 is:
By making it possible to display the film information on the display unit as large as necessary without depending on the film, it is possible to eliminate the need to open a film window in the camera body and bring about a remarkable effect on the light-shielding surface, making it easier to see the film information. To provide.

Further, an object of the invention described in claim 2 is to provide a camera capable of additionally writing, correcting and displaying information even if the information on the film type cannot be read when the film cartridge is inserted. To do.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a camera which enables a photographer to visually recognize information such as the type of film at an appropriate timing when the film is inserted.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided with storage means for storing information such as film type and the like, and the film type information can be displayed on an external display portion at an appropriate timing. Is configured as follows.

Further, when the film type cannot be read at the time of inserting the film, the film type information can be changed later.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A structure for realizing an object of the invention according to the present application is, as described in claim 1, a film information reading means for reading information such as a film type from a film cartridge, and the film information. A camera is provided with a film information storage means for storing and a film information display means for displaying information such as the type of the film cartridge currently inserted in the camera.

According to this structure, when the film cartridge is inserted into the camera, the film information reading means reads the information such as the film type and stores it in the film information storage means so that it can be easily read by the film information display means. It is possible to display on an external display by adding processing such as enlarging the size.

As a concrete constitution for realizing the object of the invention according to the present application, as described in claim 2, in claim 1, the film information display means can determine the kind of film in the film content display mode. Whether or not it is present, and if it cannot be determined, the camera is characterized by permitting the setting change of the film type.

According to this structure, if the type of film cannot be read at the time of inserting the film, it is possible to change the writing in the storage means later and display the written information.

Another specific configuration for achieving the object of the invention according to the present application is, as described in claim 3, in claim 1, the film display means is set to a state of AL when reading film information. A camera is characterized in that information such as the type of the film cartridge is displayed in a normal state, a function mode film content display mode and a film status mode.

According to this structure, the photographer can surely visually recognize the information content such as the type of the film at an appropriate timing when the film is inserted.

[0015]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a main block diagram of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a feeding motor, and 2 is a feeding motor control circuit for driving the feeding motor 1 by a drive command from a control circuit. Reference numeral 3 denotes a film cartridge information reading device which reads out ISO, maximum possible number of shots information, and film type information from the film cartridge by, for example, a bar code information reading method using a photo reflector.

Reference numeral 4 is an information storage device for temporarily storing the information read by the film cartridge information reading device 3, which is generally a RAM, an EEPROM or the like. Reference numeral 5 denotes a display drive circuit, which is a circuit that can continuously hold display information received from the control circuit in an internal register and continue to display the display information without intervention of the control circuit. Reference numeral 6 denotes a display circuit of a liquid crystal display which lights an appropriate segment according to a signal from the display drive circuit.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of the liquid crystal display shown in FIG. The liquid crystal display 6 displays various functions as shown in the display screen of FIG. 2, but not all the frames are normally lit and displayed functionally according to the setting mode. By the way, in FIG. 2, MTSG is a metering mode, CFSG is a custom function function, and ME.
SG is a multiple exposure function, RERSG is a red-eye reduction function, AE
BSG is the standard-under-over AEB shooting function, FESG is the flash compensation function, BPSG is the electronic buzzer sound function, ISOSOG is ISO film sensitivity display, FL
SG is a film status mode related to the present embodiment and the film status mode related to the present embodiment, AFMDS is a focus mode such as A1 servo AF, and DRSG is a film feeding mode.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, 7 is a main dial circuit for notifying the SW driver of the rotation change amount of the main dial INPDL of the camera. Reference numeral 8 is a mode dial circuit for notifying the SW driver of the setting value of the mode dial CMDDL of the camera.

The mode dial CMDDL has a CAL mode for performing calibration, a CF mode for performing custom function settings, an X mode for performing synchronized photography, a DEP mode for performing depth-first AE photography, and a manual photography. M mode for aperture, aperture priority A
Av mode for E shooting, Tv mode for shutter priority AE shooting, P mode for intelligent program AE shooting, green mode for fully automatic shooting, portrait mode for shooting people , Landscape mode for landscape photography, close-up mode for close-up photography, sport mode for sports photography, lock mode to explicitly prohibit photography, ISO and type of film cartridge inserted And a film state mode related to the present invention for displaying the maximum number of shootable images.

Next, 9 is a RO programmed to keep monitoring the change of the switch from the outside and the state of the internal peripheral, and to perform the appropriate control in each state.
This is a control circuit that collectively refers to M and the CPU. Reference numeral 10 continues to monitor changes in the switches of the main dial circuit 7, the mode dial circuit 8 and the like. SW that writes the state of the switch to the internal register and responds to the reading from the control circuit 9.
Is a driver.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a function change button, which is an operation button related to the present embodiment. Each time this button is pressed, [AEB-ISO-Film film type-red-eye reduction lamp-electronic sound-multi-exposure state or setting is set. SW driver 10 so that the value is switched to and displayed cyclically.
It is a circuit that requests the control circuit 9 via the.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the main body of the camera shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, CMDDL is a mode dial and OL
C is a liquid crystal display unit corresponding to 7 in FIG. 1, INPDL is a main dial, and RLSSW is a release button.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the camera shown in FIG.
In FIG. 4, reference numeral 11 is the function change button described in FIG. Reference numeral 12 is a photometry mode selection button, 13 is an AF mode selection button, and 14 is a switching button for continuous shooting, single shooting, and high speed continuous shooting.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a film cartridge used in the camera shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 50 is a film cartridge having an engaging portion 50a that engages with the fork on the camera body side. Reference numeral 51 is a bar code disk printed with a bar code which encodes film information such as film sensitivity, the number of frames specified for the film, and the type of film. The bar code disk 51 is the film cartridge 5
It is designed to rotate integrally with the 0 supply spool.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the camera shown in FIG. 3 in a cartridge loaded state. In FIG. 6, 50b is a supply spool of the film cartridge 50, 53 is a fork on the camera side, 53a is an engaging portion of a fork that engages with the engaging portion 50a of the cartridge, 54 is a camera body, and 59 is a cartridge loading lid 55. It is a shaft that rotatably supports.
60 is O due to the protrusion 55b of the cartridge loading lid 55.
It is a loading lid switch that turns N and OFF, and O when the lid opens.
N, OFF when closed. The state of FIG. 6 is OFF because the cartridge loading lid 55 is closed.

Reference numeral 58 denotes a lock lever which is slidably supported by two pins 54b and 54c protruding from the camera body and is always biased in the right hand direction by a spring 61, and a claw portion 55a of the cartridge loading lid 55. It has a lock portion 58a for locking. Also, the lock lever 5
The urging of the spring No. 8 toward the right by the spring 61 is restricted by the stopper 54a. When closing the cartridge loading lid 55, the lock portion 58a is pushed in the direction of the arrow by the engaging portion 55a, and then the lock portion 58a moves to the right according to the bias of the spring 61,
The cartridge loading lid 55 is locked as shown.

Reference numeral 62 is a gear to which the output of the feeding motor 1 is transmitted through a reduction gear train, 63 is a printed circuit board, and 64 is a photo reflector for reading a bar code from the bar code disk 51.

In the above structure, in the present embodiment, the film information reading means corresponds to the film cartridge information reading device 3, the film information storage means corresponds to the information storage device 4, and the film information display means corresponds to the display drive circuit 5. And the display section of the liquid crystal display 6 and the mode dial circuit 8,
It corresponds to both the main dial circuit 7, the SW driver 10 and the setting section by the function button 11, and is configured to be controlled by the control circuit 9, respectively.

Further, the settings relating to the information display of the film type in the present embodiment include the film state (status) mode set by operating the mode dial CMDDL,
Film content display mode (Fil) by operating the function change button 11 in the function mode
The case of m) is assumed. Further, the display is made at the time of reading the film information and at the time of AL (automatic film loading) described later.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 7 shows FIG.
4 is a flowchart of a film information reading operation of the camera shown in FIG. The sequence of loading the film cartridge into the camera and displaying the information by the control circuit 9 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the film cartridge 50 is loaded into the camera, the cartridge loading lid 55 is closed, it is determined whether the loading lid switch 60 is ON or OFF, and it is turned OFF to determine whether the cartridge loading lid 55 is completely closed. Yes (S70). The feed motor 1 is rotated in the reverse direction via the feed motor control circuit 2 (S71). In this way, the feeding motor 1
Is reversed during the next bar code reading operation,
This is to prevent the film 50c from coming out of the film cartridge 50.

Next, the photo-reflector 63 is driven by the film cartridge information reading device 3 to start the operation of reading the bar code from the bar code disk 51 of the cartridge 50 rotating integrally with the supply spool 50b (S72). ). The analog value read by the film cartridge reading device 3 is A / D converted (S73). This A
The / D converter is built in the control circuit 9.

When the control circuit 9 detects an edge from the A / D-converted bar code signal (S74), it stores the time since the last edge information detection as information in the information recording device 4 (S75). When all the information in the bar code disk 51 is recorded, the feeding motor 1 is stopped (S76). The information read from the barcode disc is decoded (S77),
Necessary information such as the type of film is displayed on the OLC from the read information (S78).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the AL operation of the camera shown in FIG. The AL sequence by the control circuit when the film is loaded will be described with reference to FIG. First, S2
The reading process of the film information in 1 is the sequence of FIG. After the film information reading process is completed, the motor 1 is rotated in the forward direction via the feeding motor control device 2 to start taking out the film 50c from the film cartridge 50 (S22).

After the AL is started, if it is determined by the AL check that some trouble has occurred (S23), the feeding motor 1 is forcibly stopped (S28). After the motor 1 is stopped, there is no problem even if the feeding motor 1 is normally rotated again from the AL check state, and if it is determined that the AL may operate normally, the AL is restarted ( S
29). If normal operation is not obtained even after performing AL again, stop AL.

In the processing of S23, when it is determined that no error has occurred, the AL status, information about the film sensitivity, the type of film and the like are displayed on the OLC (S24). Then, the AL status is monitored (S25). When it is determined that the AL has ended (S26), the film is stopped at the proper position (S27), and this flow ends (S30).

With the above processing, it is possible to clearly inform the photographer of the type of film inserted in the AL.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the function mode processing of the camera shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a sequence of the function mode process, and the setting process including the film content display mode by operating the function change button 11 will be described with reference to FIG.

When the function mode is set (S31). The mode content of the function mode set lastly is read from the storage device 4 (S32). Compared with the settable mode contents at the current position of the mode dial CMDDL, if it is a selectable mode, the last set mode content is selected, and if not selectable, the determined mode content is selected. (S33).

When the content is the film content display mode (S34). In this film content display mode, as the corresponding display screen when the function change button 11 shown in FIG. 4 is pressed, as shown in the function mode display example of FIG. 10, the [AEB] mode display of FIG. (b) ISO display, (c) film type display in film content display mode, (d) red-eye reduction mode display, (e) electronic buzzer sound mode, (f) multiple exposure mode This is a mode when the Film type display of c) is selected.

Whether or not the type of film can be determined by the film cartridge information reading device 3 at the time of inserting the film is identified (S36). If the information on the film type is not read, the following process for permitting the setting change of the film type is performed. First, the film type information is read from the storage device 4 (S41). Main dial I
The film type information is changed according to the amount of change in NPDL (S42). Information on the changed film type is written in the storage device 4 (S43).

After writing, the film type information is output to the display drive circuit 5 (S37). The switch state change is monitored (S38). When a switch change is acquired (S39), and when a switch other than the main dial INPDL is pressed, processing for exiting the function mode is performed (S40). The process is returned to S31, and if it is determined that the mode is not the function mode, the function flow ends (S44).

By the function flow as described above, even when the type of film cannot be limited when the film is inserted, the type of film can be displayed at any time in this mode by operating the main dial INPDL together with the display process of the film type. It can be changed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the film status mode processing of the camera shown in FIG. The processing when the mode dial CMDDL is operated to set the film status mode will be described with reference to FIG.

When the state of the mode dial CMDDL is the film status mode (S45). [ISO value, maximum number of recordable images, film type, ISO mark, film mark, frame of film counter] is turned on (S46). The contents displayed in this status mode will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 12A is an example of an OLC screen showing that an ISO 100, a reversal film, and a film cartridge with a maximum number of 40 shots are inserted. The film mark is at the bottom of the screen and the ISO mark is at the center right. In addition, the film counter mark is lit on the upper right side. Similarly, FIG. 12B is an OLC screen example showing that an ISO 400, a monochrome film, and a film cartridge with a maximum number of 25 shots are inserted.
FIG. 12C is an example of an OLC screen showing that an ISO 800, a color film, and a film cartridge with a maximum number of 10 shots are inserted. FIG. 12D shows I
S0100 is an example of the OLC screen when the film cartridge of which the maximum number of images is 40 is inserted and the film type cannot be read. FIG. 12E is an example of the OLC screen when the film cartridge is not inserted (the film mark is turned off). As described above, in the lighting process of S46, various displays are performed according to the type of the inserted film cartridge.

Returning to FIG. 11 again, the switch state is monitored with the film information being displayed (S47), and the process waits until the film status mode is exited (S48). Otherwise, the film status mode is exited (S49).

As described above, according to this embodiment,
An information storage device 4 for storing information such as film type read by the film cartridge information reading device 3 is provided, and when reading film information, when AL is normal, in film content display mode, in film status mode Since the information is displayed on the display 6, it is not necessary to open a film window in the camera body, and the light-shielding property of the film is significantly improved as compared with the conventional example.
The photographer can see the film information reliably on the large display on the display 6.

[0050]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the film information reading means for reading the information such as the type of film from the film cartridge, the film information storage means for storing the film information, and the present in the camera. Equipped with a film information display unit that displays information such as the type of film cartridge inserted, there is no need to open a film window in the camera body, which produces a remarkable effect on the light-shielding surface, and the film information is also displayed in a large size for easy viewing. be able to.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the film information display means discriminates whether or not the film type can be determined in the film content display mode, and if not, changes the film type setting. Since it is configured to permit the above, even if the information on the film type cannot be read when the film cartridge is inserted, the information can be written and displayed later.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the film information display means provides information such as the type of the film cartridge when the film information is read, the AL state is normal, the film content display mode and the film status mode. Since it is configured to display, it is possible for the photographer to visually confirm the information such as the film type at an appropriate timing when the film is inserted, and the visual confirmation after rewriting because the film type cannot be read when the film is inserted Can also be done reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main block diagram of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the liquid crystal display shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a main body of the camera shown in FIG.

4 is a rear view of the camera body shown in FIG.

5 is a perspective view of a film cartridge to be inserted into the camera shown in FIG.

6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the camera shown in FIG. 3 in a state in which a film cartridge is loaded.

7 is a flowchart of a film information reading operation of the camera shown in FIG.

8 is a flowchart of an AL operation of the camera shown in FIG.

9 is a flowchart of a function mode process of the camera shown in FIG.

10 is a diagram showing a display example in the function mode setting shown in FIG.

11 is a flowchart of film status mode processing of the camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a display example of film status mode setting shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Feed Motor 2 Feed Motor Control Circuit 3 Film Cartridge Information Reader 4 Information Storage Device 5 Display Drive Circuit 6 Liquid Crystal Display 7 Main Dial Circuit 8 Mode Dial Circuit 9 Control Circuit 10 SW Driver 11 Function Change Button 12 Photometric Mode Selection Button 13 AF mode selection button 14 Continuous shooting, single shooting, high-speed continuous shooting switching button 50 Film cartridge 51 Bar code disc 55 Cartridge loading lid 58 Lock lever 60 Loading lid switch 63 Substrate 64 Photo reflector CMDL Mode dial OLC Liquid crystal display INPDL Main dial RLSSW Release switch

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A film information reading means for reading information such as a film type from a film cartridge, a film information storage means for storing the film information, a kind of the film cartridge currently inserted in a camera, etc. A camera provided with a film information display means for displaying the information of. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the film information display means discriminates whether or not the film type can be determined in the film content display mode, and if not, the film type setting can be changed. A camera characterized by permitting. 3. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the film information display means reads the film information, the AL status is normal, the film content display mode in the function mode and the film status mode. A camera characterized by displaying information such as.