JPH09311371A - Camera with built-in electronic flash device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a camera with a flash light emitting part capable of turning to a projecting position in use and a storage position. SOLUTION: A flash light emitting part unit 5 is supported by a holding member 6 which is fixed to the camera main body 1 so that the unit 5 mad be turned to the storage position and the light emitting position around a shaft 8 which is orthogonal to the photographic optical axis of the camera, and as for the center part of the shaft supporting part of the holding member 6, a projecting part is formed on the unit 5 side, and a recessed part is formed on the opposite side, and the layout is formed so that a trigger coil 9a mounted on a flashing circuit substrate 9 attached to this opposite side surface may be put into the recessed part. And, the trigger coil 9a partly comes into contact with the rotary shaft 8 of the unit 5, then, the miniaturization of the camera is maintained, and also, a red-eye effect is hardly given.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera with a built-in electronic flash device, and more particularly to a camera in which a flash light emitting portion is rotatable between a storage position and a light emitting position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various cameras with built-in electronic flash devices have been proposed or commercialized. In recent years, in particular, due to downsizing of cameras and higher magnification of photographing lenses, the photographing lens optical axis and the light emitting optical axis are combined. The distance becomes smaller and the subject (person)
The so-called shooting distance tends to increase. As a result, the so-called red-eye phenomenon, in which flash light is incident on the pupil of the subject (human) and reflected on the retina, tends to occur. It is important to suppress this red-eye in the commercialization of cameras. Has become.

As means for suppressing the red-eye phenomenon, a method of moving the flash light emitting portion away from the optical axis of the photographing lens when using the flash device, pre-flashing the flash device immediately before photographing, or emitting a light source (lamp) other than the flash device There are two well-known methods of contracting the pupil of a subject (person) by doing so, and a combination of the two is also proposed.

By the way, among the above-mentioned conventional techniques, in the former method in which the flash emitting section is moved away from the optical axis of the photographing lens when the flash apparatus is used, the flash emitting section is slid in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the camera, so that Alternatively, it is most common to project it to the side and move the flash emission part away from the shooting optical axis, and as a means for driving the flash emission part, the flash emission part is always spring-biased toward the use position (projection position). When not in use, it is held in the storage position against the spring by a well-known locking mechanism, and when in use, the camera user releases the locking mechanism with an operating member, etc. The electric circuit for controlling the flash light emission is turned on at the same time as the projection. Further, as the automation of cameras has advanced, it is known that the locking mechanism is automatically released according to the subject brightness determination result of the camera.

Further, as another means for moving the flash light emitting section away from the optical axis of the photographing lens, the flash light emitting section is rotated around an axis orthogonal to the optical axis of the photographing as described in JP-A-1-56427. Then, there is a method of moving to the storage position and the light emitting position. With this method, the vertical height at the storage position of the flash light emitting unit can be lowered, and the optical components on the front surface of the flash light emitting unit are covered, preventing scratches, increasing the degree of freedom in design, and further reducing the size of the drive mechanism. In recent years, it has come to be widely used for reasons such as possible.

[0006] As another method, the actual fair 2-1403
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2), there is a flash light emitting section that also serves as a protective cover on the front of the camera, and the base of the protective cover is rotatably supported on the upper front part of the camera body (left and right of the viewfinder). It enables downsizing of the camera.

[0007]

However, in the conventional example in which the flash light emitting section also serves as the protective cover, the size of the light emitting section is unnecessarily increased because the flash light emitting section also serves as the cover, and the drive is not required. There is a limit to further miniaturization due to the large space taken up by the part.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a camera having a flash light emitting portion which can be moved between a light emitting position and a storage position and which can be further miniaturized. And

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a fixed holding member for rotatably supporting a flash light emitting section on a camera body, and the holding member is a flash emitting section. The flash circuit board is disposed on the side opposite to the flash circuit board, and the hinge central portion is provided with a convex portion on the flash light emitting portion side and a concave portion on the flash circuit substrate side.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention as set forth in claim 1 is a flash light provided with a flash light emitting portion which is rotatable around an axis orthogonal to a camera photographing optical axis and is movable between a storage position and a light emitting position. In the camera with a built-in device, a fixed holding member for rotatably supporting the flash light emitting unit is provided, the holding member has a flash circuit board arranged on the side opposite to the flash light emitting unit, and the hinge central portion is A convex portion is provided on the side of the flash light emitting portion and a concave portion is provided on the side of the flash circuit board, and an electric element mounted on the flash circuit board is inserted into the concave portion, and a part of the electric element is part of the flash light emitting portion. With the configuration of being hung on the rotation axis of, the red-eye phenomenon due to flash emission is less likely to occur while maintaining the miniaturization of the camera.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a state in which the flash light emitting unit is housed, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway vertical sectional view when the flash light emitting unit is used. In the figure, 1 is a camera body, and 2 is a drive ring for moving the photographing lens forward and backward, which is attached to the camera body 1 so as to be rotatable around the optical axis of the photographing lens, and has a known cam groove and cam follower. The lens barrel is moved forward and backward when it is rotated, and the gear 2a and the rib-shaped convex portion 2b are provided on the outer circumference thereof. Reference numeral 3 denotes a motor for rotating the drive ring 2 via the reduction gear train 4, and the final stage gear 4a meshes with the gear 2a of the drive ring 2 to transmit power.

A flash light emitting unit 5 is a flash case 5
A flash discharge tube 5b and a reflecting mirror 5c are mounted inside a, and the light emitting surface side is covered with a transparent window 5d. The flash cover 5e has two claws on the front and a screw on the back of the case 5a on the upper side. It is fixed. Reference numeral 6 denotes a holding member that rotates and holds the flash light emitting unit 5.
Is rotatably supported by a hinge composed of a crank 7 and a shaft 8 and is fixed to the camera body 1. The rear end of the flash cover 5e is fixed to the upper surface of the flash main unit 5 when the flash unit 5 rotates to the light emitting position. Is formed with a stopper portion 6a. A flash circuit board 9 is electrically connected to the flash light emitting unit 5 by a lead wire (not shown), and is fixed to the lower surface side of the holding member 6. As shown in FIG. 2, the center of the hinge portion of the holding member 6 has a concave portion with respect to the flash circuit board 9, and accordingly a convex portion is provided with respect to the case 5a. The trigger coil 9a mounted above is configured to be inserted therein, and a part of the trigger coil 9a is positioned so as to contact the rotation center axis of the flash light emitting unit 5. Further, on the case 5a side, with this configuration, a cutout portion 5f is formed so as not to contact the convex portion even at the light emitting position. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the height from the back surface of the flash circuit board 9 to the top surface of the flash light emitting unit 5.

Reference numeral 10 is a first lever for transmitting the power of the drive ring 2 to the flash light emitting unit 5, and an axis 10a orthogonal to the optical axis is held by the pedestal 11 on the camera body 1 and its front edge side. The slope 10b and the slope 10b
To form a top portion 10c which is connected to the
d is projected. 12 is a second lever, which is a shaft 12a
Is rotatably held by the pedestal 14 on the camera body 1,
The tip side thereof abuts the pin 10d of the first lever 10 and the pin 12c is provided in a protruding manner. A third lever 13 is rotatably fitted on a hollow shaft 12b coaxial with the shaft 12a. Reference numeral 15 is a torsion spring, one end of which is hung on the pin 12c and the other end of which is hung on the third lever 13, and one end 13a of the third lever 13 is urged in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. It does not rotate any further in the counterclockwise direction.

Reference numeral 16 is a connecting rod, one end of which is rotatably held by a pin 13b protruding from the other end of the third lever 13 and the other end of which is rotatably held by a pin 7a of the crank 7. Thus, a crank mechanism is formed between the third lever 13 and the flash light emitting section 5. Reference numeral 17 denotes a spring for urging the flash light emitting unit 5 in the storage position direction. One end of the spring is bent to the pin 1a provided on the camera body 1, and the other end is bent to the other end of the third lever 13. It is hung on each part 13c.

The operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described.
First, FIGS. 1 and 2 show the power-off state, and the taking lens barrel is also in the retracted state. When the power switch (not shown) of the camera is turned on from this state, the motor 3 is energized so as to rotate counterclockwise in FIG.
The drive ring 2 rotates counterclockwise via the. Then, the rib-shaped convex portion 2b provided on the outer periphery of the drive ring 2
From the state where the first lever 10 was separated from the first lever 10 (first state) gradually approached and abutted, and the drive ring 2
When is rotated, it tries to ride on the slope 10b of the first lever 10. At this time, since the drive ring 2 is rotatably regulated in the front-rear direction, the first lever 10 is pressed so as to rotate clockwise around the shaft 10a in FIG. At the same time, pin 10d
The tip of the second lever 12 is pushed and rotated counterclockwise. Further, the third lever 13 has a torsion spring 15
Since it is pressed in the counterclockwise direction against the second lever 12 by the urging force of the second lever 12, it tries to rotate in the counterclockwise direction integrally with the second lever 12.

At this time, since the spring 17 is applied to the bent portion 13c at the tip of the third lever 13 in the direction in which the flash light emitting unit 5 is housed, the torsion spring 15 extends the spring 17 and emits flash light. A sufficient load is applied to cause the unit unit 5 to project. As a result, when the third lever 13 rotates, the flash light emitting unit 5 starts to rotate in the protruding direction due to the connection of the connecting rod 16 and the crank 17, and when the drive link 2 further rotates, the flash emitting unit 5 moves. The rear end of the flash cover 5e is a stopper portion 6a of the holding member 6.
It comes into contact with the position where the flash light can be emitted.

Further, when the drive ring 2 is rotated, the rib-shaped convex portion 2b is pushed down until it reaches the top portion 10c of the first lever 10. At this time, the flash light emitting unit 5 is moved to the stopper portion 6a as described above. Since they are in contact with each other and cannot rotate, the third lever 13 does not rotate, and only the second lever 12 is rotated by the first lever 10. As a result, the one end 13a of the third lever 13 that was initially in contact with the pin 12c is separated, so that the flash light emitting unit 5 moves to the position where the flash light emitting unit 5 can emit light.
It is pressed stably by the urging force of. (State of Figure 3)

Further, the drive ring 2 stops at the position where it has been rotated to a predetermined position, and is ready for photographing. If the camera is a zoom camera, this position is the wide position, and when the drive ring 2 is further rotated counterclockwise, the taking lens barrel is extended to be in the tele state. Even in this telescopic state, since the rib-shaped convex portion 2b is formed on the outer periphery of the drive ring 2, the first lever 10 is always pressed and the flash light emitting unit 5 is stably pressed to the light emitting position. become.

As described above, in the camera according to the present embodiment, the flash light emitting unit 5 always projects in the photographable state and is in the light emitting state, so that the operability is not impaired in any photographing scene. A good camera. Further, since the flash light emitting unit 5 projects, even if some external force is applied to the flash emitting unit 5 during the projecting state or during the projecting operation and is pressed in the storing direction, the torsion spring 15 causes the third spring to move. Thirteen
The first and second levers 11, 1 are only deformed by
No movement is transmitted to 2, and the related parts including the drive ring 2 are not destroyed.

Next, the operation of storing the flash light emitting unit 5 after the photographing is completed will be described. The storing operation may be performed by rotating the drive ring 2 in the opposite direction to the above-described projecting operation.
The motor 3 is energized in the reverse direction, and the drive ring 2 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 via the gear train 4. Then, the taking lens barrel moves in the retracting direction in association with the rotation of the drive ring 2 due to the configuration of the cam groove and the cam follower.

In this way, as the photographic lens barrel further retracts to the wide position, the tip of the rib-shaped convex portion 2b passes the top portion 10c of the first lever 10 and the slope portion 10b.
However, since the first lever 10 is urged to rotate counterclockwise by the torsion spring 15 via the second lever 12 in FIG. 3, the first lever 10 follows the rib-shaped convex portion 2b and is rotated counterclockwise. It turns to. The pin 12c of the second lever 12 and the third lever 1 are rotated at a certain angle.
One end 13a of 3 abuts.

At this point, the urging force pressing the flash light emitting unit 5 to the light emitting position is released by the torsion spring 15, so that the flash light emitting unit 5 is rotated counterclockwise by the spring 17 in the counterclockwise direction. In conjunction with the second
The lever 12 and the third lever 13 rotate in the storing direction. Further, when the drive ring 2 is rotated, the flash light emitting unit 5 is stopped at the storage position, and the second and third levers 12 and 13 are also stopped accordingly. Subsequently, the drive ring 2 has the rib-shaped convex portion 2 b on the slope 10 of the first lever 10.
It separates from b and rotates by a predetermined angle and stops. Thus, the storage operation of the flash light emitting unit 5 is completed.

If any external force is applied to the flash light emitting unit 5 during the storage operation so as to prevent the operation, the pin 12c of the second lever 12 and the one end 13a of the third lever 13 come into contact with each other. After contact, drive ring 2
The rib-shaped convex portion 2b is separated from the first lever 10, and the third lever 13, the connecting rod 16 and the flash light emitting unit 5 are not affected and are not destroyed. The same is true when the flash light emitting unit 5 is pushed down during storage, and the flash light emitting unit 5 and the connecting rod 16
Since the second and third levers 12 and 13 only rotate in conjunction with, the related parts are not destroyed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, there is provided a flash light emitting portion which is rotatable about an axis orthogonal to the camera photographing optical axis and is movable between a storage position and a light emitting position. In a camera with a built-in flash device, the camera includes a fixed holding member that rotatably supports the flash light emitting unit, the holding member has a flash circuit board arranged on the side opposite to the flash light emitting unit, and the hinge thereof. The central portion is provided with a convex portion on the flash light emitting portion side and a concave portion on the flash circuit board side, and an electric element mounted on the flash circuit board is inserted into the concave portion, and a part of the electric element is By arranging the flash light emitting portion on the rotation axis, it is possible to maintain the miniaturization of the camera and prevent the red-eye phenomenon from occurring during flash light emission.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a camera with a built-in electronic flash device according to an embodiment of the present invention in a state in which a flash light emitting unit is housed.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view in which a part of the flash light emitting portion is cut away.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Camera body, 2. Drive ring, 3. Motor,
4 ... Reduction gear train, 5 ... Flash light emitting unit, 6 ...
Holding member, 7 ... Crank, 8 ... Shaft, 9 ... Flash circuit board, 9a ... Trigger coil, 10 ... First lever,
12 ... Second lever, 13 ... Third lever.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a camera with a built-in flash device, which comprises a flash light emitting portion that is rotatable about an axis orthogonal to a camera photographing optical axis and is movable between a storage position and a light emitting position, the flash light emitting portion is rotated. Having a fixed holding member that movably supports,
The holding member has a flash circuit board arranged on the side opposite to the flash light emitting portion, and the hinge central portion thereof is provided with a convex portion on the flash light emitting portion side and a concave portion on the flash circuit substrate side. A camera with a built-in electronic flash device, wherein an electric element mounted on a substrate is inserted into the concave portion, and a part of the electric element is hooked on a rotation axis of the flash light emitting section.