JPH0933994A - Stroboscope unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently and inexpensively reuse a stroboscope unit. SOLUTION: The reflex case 50 of a stroboscopic light emission part 6 is freely slidably fitted to the stroboscope unit through a guide member 42 fixed to a printed board. A discharge tube 51 and a reflector 52 are housed it the case 50. A protector 55 is fitted to the front part of the case 50 and an operation member 7 is fitted to the upper part thereof. On the operation member 7, an engaging pawl 7h engaged with the bottom wall of the case 50 and an engaging pawl 7f engaged with a recessed part formed on the side wall of the case 50 are formed. The pawl 7f is formed on the tip of a slender arm part 7e. By cutting the arm part 7e by a nipper or the like, the operation member 7 is easily detached from the case 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a simple strobe unit in which a strobe light emitting section can be reused.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In addition to incorporating a photographic film in advance,
Many of the film units with a lens that have a simple shooting function (for example, the product name "Shaken Runda Econo Shot") and compact cameras have a small, simple strobe unit built-in. Such a strobe unit is composed of a stroboscopic light emitting portion that houses a discharge tube and a printed circuit board that is provided with a strobe circuit for controlling light emission of the discharge tube. The strobe light emitting part is composed of a reflex case containing a discharge tube and a reflector inside, and a transparent plastic protector that covers the front part of the case and diffuses the strobe light emitted from the discharge tube and protects the discharge tube. Has been done.

Generally, the strobe light emitting portion is fixed to the edge of the printed circuit board, but in order to reduce the red-eye effect, a strobe unit in which the strobe light emitting portion is slidably attached to the printed circuit board is proposed by the present applicant. (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-196658). This strobe unit is provided with a knob formed with a knurl for preventing slippage on the upper part of the stroboscopic light emitting unit in order to facilitate the sliding operation of the stroboscopic light emitting unit.

Further, such a strobe unit is inspected at the time of collecting the lens-fitted photo film unit or repairing the compact camera, and after replacing a defective part, for example, a protector which is most susceptible to scratches and dirt, it is reused. Has been done.

[0005]

By the way, in the strobe unit having the slidable stroboscopic light emitting portion as described above, dirt such as hand marks easily enters the eye of the knurl formed on the knob, so that the protector must be replaced. In addition to the work, it becomes necessary to wash the knurls when the strobe unit is reused. Further, in order to clean the knurls, it is necessary to remove the stroboscopic light emitting part from the printed circuit board, which causes an increase in reuse cost.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a strobe unit which can be reused with high efficiency and low cost.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a strobe unit according to claim 1 is provided with a printed circuit board provided with a strobe circuit for controlling light emission of a discharge tube, and an edge portion of the printed circuit board. It is equipped with a fixed guide member and a strobe light emitting unit slidably attached to this guide member.The strobe light emitting unit is detachably attached to a reflex case containing a discharge tube and a reflector inside. The protector is attached to cover the front of the discharge tube, and is detachably attached to the upper part of the reflector case, and the operating member is operated when sliding the strobe light emitting section.

The operating member and the protector are respectively removed from the ref case of the stroboscopic light emitting unit without removing the stroboscopic light emitting unit from the printed circuit board of the recovered strobe unit, and these are replaced with new operating members and protectors. As a result, the troublesome process of removing the strobe light emitting portion from the printed circuit board and cleaning the operating member is omitted, so that the reuse efficiency is improved and the reuse cost is suppressed.

A strobe unit according to a second aspect of the present invention is the strobe unit according to the first aspect, wherein the operating member includes an elongated arm portion having an engaging claw formed at a tip thereof, and the ref case is operated. A recess is formed at a position corresponding to the engaging claw of the member, and the operating member is detachably attached to the upper part of the ref case by engaging the engaging claw of the operating member with the recess. . Therefore, by cutting the arm portion of the operating member, the operating member can be removed from the ref case very easily.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the light guide portion for guiding the charging completion indicator lamp to the vicinity of the viewfinder eyepiece window is provided in the guide member constituting the strobe light emitting portion, framing is performed from the viewfinder eyepiece window. You can check the charging completion indicator as it is.

[0011]

FIG. 2 is a view showing the outer appearance of a lens-fitted film unit equipped with a strobe unit according to the present invention.
In the above, the lens-fitted film unit 1 is composed of a unit main body 2 in which a photographing mechanism and the like are incorporated, and an outer case 3 such as a paper box for accommodating the unit main body 2. On the front surface of the unit main body 2, there are provided a taking lens 4, a finder objective window 5 and a stroboscopic light emitting section 6 which can slide to the right.
An operation member 7 that is operated when the strobe light emitting unit 6 is slid is provided above the strobe light emitting unit 6,
A knurl 7a is formed on this upper surface.

On the upper surface of the unit body 2, a shutter button 8, a counter window 9 and a charging completion confirmation window 11 exposing the neon tube 10 are provided. The winding knob 12 and the viewfinder eyepiece window 1 are provided on the rear surface of the unit body 2.
3 are provided. The outer case 3 is provided with holes and notches for operating or exposing them.

In FIG. 3, the unit main body 2 comprises a main body portion 15, an exposure unit 16, a flash unit 17, a front cover 18, and a rear cover 19, which are detachably attached by claw engagement. . The main body portion 15 includes a cartridge chamber 22 for accommodating the cartridge body 21 of the photo film cartridge 20, a film scroll chamber 24 for accommodating a film scroll 23a formed by scrolling the photograph film 23 drawn from the cartridge body 21, and a cartridge chamber. 22 and a film scroll chamber 24, and a dark box portion 25.

An exposure unit 16 is provided on the front surface of the main body 15.
The front cover 18 is attached after the flash unit 17 and the flash unit 17 are assembled. In the upper right corner of the front cover 18,
A notch 18a exposing the strobe light emitting portion 6 is formed. Also, the main body of the cartridge 21 and the film scroll 2
After storing 3a in the cartridge chamber 22 and the film scroll chamber 24, respectively, a rear cover 19 is attached to the back side of the main body 15 by claw engagement.
2. The film scroll chamber 24 and the dark box portion 25 are light-tightly closed. Finally, the dry battery 27 is inserted through the gap opening between the front cover 18 and the rear cover 19 provided between the cartridge chamber 22 and the film scroll chamber 24, and the dry battery 27 is set on the battery contact piece of the strobe unit 17.

The exposure unit 16 is provided with a lens receiver 31 which also serves as a shutter cover in the front part of the base 28, and the photographing lens 4 is fixed to the lens receiver 31 by this, and a shutter drive mechanism, a counter mechanism, and a finder 34 are provided on the upper part. It is attached.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the strobe unit 17 is provided with a strobe light emitting section 6 slidably provided via a guide member 42 fixed to an upper portion of a printed circuit board 41. Battery contact pieces 43 and 44 for holding the dry battery 27 are attached to the lower portion of the printed circuit board 41.
Synchro contact pieces 45, 46 are arranged on the left side of the upper part on the rotation locus of the shutter blades of the exposure unit 16 and short-circuited by the shutter blades rotated at the time of shutter release.
Is attached. Reference numeral 47 is a main capacitor attached to the back of the printed board 41.

The guide member 42 is provided with two engaging claws 42a and 42b and a position regulating projection 42c at the upper left,
These cooperate to fix the guide member 42 to the printed board 41. Also, on the right side, two slits 42d, 4d
2e is formed, and flat plate-shaped projections 50a and 50b which are loosely fitted in the slits 42d and 42e and slidably support the strobe light emitting portion 6 on the guide member 42 are formed in the ref case 50 of the strobe light emitting portion 6. It is to be noted that the tip ends of the flat plate-shaped projections 50a and 50b are formed with a claw for preventing slip-out, and when the flat plate-shaped projections 50a and 50b are once inserted into the slits 42d and 42e, the slits 42d and 42d are formed.
It is designed so that it cannot be accidentally pulled out of e. In this way, the guide member 42 has a function of having elasticity such as a locking claw. Therefore, it is desirable to mold the guide member 42 with, for example, a resin material.

Further, the guide member 42 has a function of a light guide for guiding the light of the neon tube 11 mounted behind the printed board 41 to the vicinity of the viewfinder eyepiece window 13. In order to configure the function of the light guide, one end 42f of the guide member 42 is attached to the back surface 42g.
Has a shape extended from the opening 13a provided on the side of the finder eyepiece window 13 of the rear cover 19 to a position where it is exposed, and a space for the neon tube 11 to enter is formed between the engaging claw 42b and the position regulating projection 42c. In addition, for guiding the light emitted from the neon tube 11 on the side opposite to the neon tube 11 to the side of the neon tube 11 of the position regulating projection 42c of the part of this space and the back surface 42g. The slopes 42i are formed respectively. Then, it is sufficient to form only these portions with a transparent resin material, but in order to make only a part of the guide member 42 transparent, high-cost molding such as two-color molding is performed. Therefore, the guide member 42 itself is transparent. Molding with a resin material is preferable. As a result, the light emitted from the neon tube 11 can be observed not only through the charging completion confirmation window 11 but also through the viewfinder eyepiece window 13.

The strobe light emitting section 6 is provided in the ref case 50.
And a discharge tube 51 and a reflector 52 housed inside the
A protector 55 made of transparent plastic, which is detachably attached to the front part of the reflex case 50 by claw engagement, and an operation member 7 which is detachably attached to the upper part of the reflex case 50 by claw engagement.
And consisting of The front part of the protector 55 is a lens that irradiates stroboscopic light onto the photographing range.

The reflector 52 is housed so that its curved portion 52a abuts on a wall 50c formed at the back of the reflector case 50. A pair of regulating members 50d is formed on both sides of the ref case 50, and a gap 57 corresponding to the thickness of the discharge tube 51 is formed between the ref case 50 and the wall 50c. This gap 5
The reflector 52 is housed in the ref case 50 so that the holes 52b and 52c provided on the left and right of the reflector 52 are opposed to each other in FIG. Insert the discharge tube 51 through the gap 57 and insert the reflector 52.
When the central portion of the discharge tube 51 is set inside, the both ends of the discharge tube 51 are pressed against the wall 50c side by the pair of regulating members 50d, and the discharge tube 51 is attached to the inner surface of the reflecting umbrella 52 and the pair of regulating members. It is sandwiched between 50d.

U-shaped protrusions 55a and 55b are formed on the upper and lower sides of the protector 55, and holes 58 and 59 formed in the U-shaped protrusions 55a and 55b are engaged with a claw 50e (one of which is not shown) formed on the reflector case 50. By combining, protector 55
Is attached to the front of the reflex case 50.

As shown in FIG. 5, the operating member 7 has the knurl 7a formed on its upper surface, and comprises an upper portion 7b which covers the upper portion of the reflex case 50 and a side portion 7c which covers the right side of the reflex case 50. These are integrally formed so as to be rotatable relative to each other via a thin hinge portion 7d. At the end of the upper portion 7b, an elongated arm portion 7e having an engaging claw 7f formed at the tip thereof.
Are formed at right angles. As shown in (B), the engaging claw 7f is engaged with the recess 50g formed in the column portion 50f on the left side of the ref case 50.

At the two edge portions of the side portion 7c, the ref case 5 is attached.
A back plate 7g and a bottom plate 7h which cover a part of the back surface and the bottom surface of 0 are connected at right angles. Engaging claws 7i that engage with notches (not shown) formed in the bottom wall of the reflex case 50 are formed on the inner surface of the bottom plate 7h. To attach the operating member 7 to the reflex case 50, first open the upper part 7b and the side part 7c, engage the claws 7i with the notches in the bottom wall of the reflex case 50, and then rotate the upper part 7b. The engaging claw 7f is engaged with the recess 50g.

The stroboscopic light emitting portion 6 constructed in this manner is slid along the slits 42d and 42e of the guide member 42 by operating the knurl 7a, and as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. By contacting the contacts (not shown) with each other, the main capacitor 47 is charged with a high voltage obtained by boosting the power source of the dry battery 27. When this charging is completed, the neon tube 10 lights up or blinks.

It should be noted that the timing of starting charging, that is, the contact between the contacts, protrudes more than the thickness of the outer case 3 at least in order to make the photographer surely recognize that the flash photography is performed. It is recommended that it be done at a point in time. In addition, a part of the stroboscopic light emitting portion 6, for example, the operating member 7 or the like is replaced with another member, for example, the outer case 3.
By coloring with a different color or by using a material with a different color, it is possible to increase the user's recognition that the flash photography is performed. Moreover, by clarifying the projection of the strobe light emitting portion 6, it is possible to prevent forgetting to turn off the charging switch and prevent the dry battery 27 from being consumed.

When the shutter button 8 is pressed, the shutter mechanism of the exposure unit 16 is driven, the shutter blades are rotated, and the exposure opening is fully opened.
5, 46 are short-circuited. As a result, a predetermined voltage is applied to the trigger terminal of the discharge tube 51, and the discharge tube 51 is discharged at the next moment.
A part of the internal xenon gas (Xe) is ionized to reduce the internal resistance in the tube, and the discharge tube 51 discharges and emits light. When the stroboscopic photography is not performed, the stroboscopic light emitting section 6 is housed within the contour of the lens-fitted film unit 1.

Used film unit 1 with lens
When submitted to a DPE dealer, the photographic film cartridge 20 is taken out from the cartridge chamber 22 and processed for development. The empty unit body 2 is collected in the reuse processing factory of the manufacturer and the front cover 18 is removed. After removing the dry battery 27 from the battery contact pieces 43, 44, the strobe light emitting section 6 is moved in a direction in which it is projected from the contour of the unit main body 2. As a result, a gap is formed between the arm portion 7e of the operation member 7 and the engaging claw 42b. When the arm portion 7e of the operating member 7 is cut with a tool such as a nipper, the upper portion 7b of the operating member 7 is in a free state. Therefore, after rotating this clockwise, the operating member 7 is moved downward (on the printed circuit board side).
When pulled to, the engaging claws 7i are disengaged from the notches in the bottom wall of the reflex case 50, and the operating member 7 is disengaged from the reflex case 50.

When the operating member 7 is disengaged from the ref case 50, the projection 55a covered by the upper portion 7b is exposed, so that the projection 55a is deformed to release the engagement with the claw 50e, and the protector 55 is removed from the ref case 50. Remove. At this time, the projection 55b is also deformed to release the engagement with the not-shown claw.

The eyes of the knurling 7a are hard to remove dirt such as hand dust, and the surface of the protector 55 is often scratched or dirty. For this reason, the operation member 7 and the protector 55 removed from the reflex case 50 are subjected to processing such as crushing, respectively, and made into pellets for molding material.

The test dry battery 27 is connected to the battery contact pieces 43, 4
4, the discharge tube 51 is subjected to a light emission test, and if there is no problem with the light emitting operation, the amount of emitted light, etc., a new operation member 7 and protector 55 are attached to the ref case 50, and the strobe unit 17 is reused as it is.

The strobe unit 17 in which the abnormality is found in the light emission test of the discharge tube 51 is removed from the main body portion 15 and the cause thereof is investigated. Reusable items are reused after parts replacement, etc., and non-reusable items are discarded.

In the embodiment described above, when the operating member 7 is removed from the ref case 50, the arm portion 7e is cut by a nipper or the like. However, for example, a jig having a sharp tip such as a driver is engaged with the engaging claw 7f. The upper portion 7b may be rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 5 by causing the engaging claw 7f of the arm portion 7e to be generated while inserting it into the gap between the concave portion 50g and the concave portion 50g. Further, although the neon tube 11 is used as the charging completion indicator light, the present invention is not limited to this, and an LED, a miniature ball, or the like may be used. Furthermore, although the light guide is guided to the side of the viewfinder eyepiece window 13, the position of the guide may be anywhere around the eyepiece window 13, and
It is effective to guide the light into the optical path of the finder optics because the projection length of the portion forming the light guide portion can be reduced and the eyepiece window 13 can surely confirm.

[0033]

As described above, according to the strobe unit of the present invention, since the operating member is detachably attached to the reflex case as a separate member, the operating member can be easily removed from the reflex case. Therefore, it is possible to omit the troublesome process of removing the strobe light emitting portion from the printed board and cleaning the operating member, and the strobe unit can be reused with high efficiency and at low cost. Further, when the operating member is detachably attached to the upper part of the ref case through the elongated arm portion having the engaging claw formed at the tip, the operating member can be very easily cut by cutting the arm portion of the operating member. Can be removed from the ref case, and the operation member can be replaced quickly.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the light guide portion for guiding the charging completion indicator lamp to the vicinity of the viewfinder eyepiece window is provided in the guide member constituting the strobe light emitting portion, framing is performed from the viewfinder eyepiece window. It is possible to confirm the charging completion indicator lamp as it is, and it is possible to prevent a failure such as missing the shutter timing. In addition, the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where a light guide member is separately provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a flash light emitting unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a film unit with a lens.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a unit main body.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the outline of a strobe unit of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a ref case and an operation member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Film unit with lens 2 Unit body 6 Strobe light emitting part 7 Operating member 7a Knurling 7f, 7i, 50e Engaging claw 11 Neon tube 17 Strobe unit 41 Printed board 42 Guide member 50 Ref case 50g Recess 51 Discharge tube 52 Reflective umbrella 55 Protector 55a , 55b protrusion

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printed circuit board provided with a strobe circuit for controlling light emission of a discharge tube, a guide member fixed to an edge portion of the printed circuit board, and a strobe light emitting unit slidably attached to the guide member. This stroboscopic light emitting part is equipped with a reflex case in which a discharge tube and a reflector are housed, a protector that is detachably attached to the front part of the strobe, covers the front of the discharge tube, and is detachable from the upper part of the reflex case. A strobe unit which is attached to a strobe unit and which is operated when the strobe light emitting section is slid. 2. The operating member includes an elongated arm portion having an engaging claw formed at a tip thereof, and a recess is formed in the ref case at a position corresponding to the engaging claw of the operating member. The strobe unit according to claim 1, wherein the operating member is detachably attached to the upper portion of the ref case by engaging the engaging claw of the operating member with the recess. 3. The main capacitor attached to the printed circuit board is started in synchronization with the slide operation on the operation member, and an indicator lamp for indicating the completion of the charging is attached to the printed circuit board. The strobe unit according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is provided with a light guide portion for guiding the light of the indicator lamp to the vicinity of the viewfinder eyepiece window.