JPH11136543A - Motor-driven universal head device and its system control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm the circumference during panning with an image of an image pickup device by performing the panning operation after setting the tilt angle of a universal head to a specific angle when placing the universal head device in the panning operation. SOLUTION: This device is equipped with the universal head 101 which is supported so as to perform panning operation and tilting operation, a driving mechanism which drives and rotates the universal head 101 in panning operation and tilting directions, and a control mechanism which controls the driving mechanism. When the universal head device is placed in the panning operation, the tilt angle of the universal head 101 is set to a specific angle and then the panning is performed. Namely, the tilt angle of the universal head 101 is set to the specific angle before the universal head 101 is placed in the panning operation. In a liquid crystal viewfinder 104, a subject image inputted from a camera head 102 and video recorded by the recording part of a video camera main body can be observed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pan head device which typically movably supports a device such as a video camera or the like, and more particularly to an electric pan head device driven by power.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of electric pan head device can realize remote control of a video camera mounted on a video camera or the like when photographing. Conventionally, a camera base to which a video camera can be attached with a tripod camera screw, a mechanism for panning (hereinafter, referred to as “panning”) and tilting the camera base with a motor as a driving source, a reflection pattern and a photo 2. Description of the Related Art An electric (type) pan head including a control mechanism using an interrupter is known.

According to these electric pan heads, panning and tilting operations can be performed by a remote controller, and a simple automatic operation capable of automatically panning within a predetermined angle range can be performed. Can be.

[0004]

However, the following problems have been encountered with this type of conventional electric pan head. That is, if panning is performed in a state where the camera is tilted upward or downward, if an image in which nothing is captured other than the ceiling, the sky, or the ground is formed, the surrounding situation cannot be understood. In addition, a video including many unnecessary scenes will be generated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and has as its object to provide an electric pan head device and a system control method thereof that can solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0006]

Therefore, in the present invention, the above object is achieved by providing an electric pan head apparatus and a system control method according to any one of the following (1) to (4). What you want to do.

(1) A pan head supported so as to perform a panning operation and a tilting operation, a driving mechanism for rotating the pan head in the panning direction and the tilting direction, respectively, and the driving mechanism A pan head device having a control mechanism for controlling a mechanism, wherein when the pan head device performs the panning operation, panning is performed after setting a tilt angle of the pan head to a predetermined angle. Electric pan head device.

(2) The electric pan head device according to the above (1), wherein a tilt angle of the pan head is detected before the panning operation is performed.

(3) According to the detected tilt angle, there is provided a mode in which the tilt angle is set to a predetermined angle before the panning operation, and a mode in which the panning operation is performed at the same tilt angle. (1),
The pan head device according to any of (2).

(4) The system control method for an electric pan head device according to any one of (1) to (3).

[0011]

According to the above-described structure of the present invention, the following various effects / effects can be obtained respectively: The electric pan head described in (1) sets the tilt angle of the pan head to a predetermined angle before panning the pan head. Set to an angle.

The electric pan head described in the item (2) detects the tilt angle of the pan head before performing the panning operation.

In the electric pan head described in the item (3), a mode in which the tilt angle is set to a predetermined angle before performing the panning operation and a mode in which the panning operation is performed at the same tilt angle are selected according to the detected tilt angle. I do.

The system control method described in the item (4) can be controlled as described in the items (1) to (3).

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings based on an embodiment.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall appearance of a video camera according to an embodiment of the present invention mounted on a motor-driven head.
Reference numeral 101 denotes an electric head, 103 a video camera body, 102 denotes a camera head unit, and 106 denotes a cable connecting the video camera body 103 and the camera head unit 102. 10
Reference numeral 4 denotes a liquid crystal finder which can observe a subject image input from a camera head and a video recorded by a recording unit (not shown) of the video camera body. Reference numeral 105 denotes an operation unit.

The operation unit 105 of the main body 103 of the video camera according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Operation unit 5
Reference numerals 2 and 53 denote angle panning operation switches (hereinafter, the switches are abbreviated as “SW”). When the SW 52 is pressed, the pan head is turned counterclockwise. Of the sub-chassis and members coupled to the sub-chassis rotate.

Reference numerals 50 and 51 denote operation switches for each tilting operation.
When the SW50 is pressed, the camera base is tilted only while the operation switch is pressed when the SW51 is pressed. The functions of the SWs 50 to 53 are different depending on whether the switch is pressed lightly or deeply. That is, when the button is pressed lightly, PW
Since the ratio of ON and OFF in the M control is set to 30%, the head rotates relatively slowly, and when pressed deep,
Since the on / off ratio in the PWM control is set to 100%, the pan head operates relatively quickly.

Reference numeral 54 denotes a preset switch, and 55 denotes a preset setting switch. In the preset SW%, the angle of the camera stand with respect to the main axis is set by the following operation. The photographer operates the panning operation switches 52 and 53 and the tilting operation switches 50 and 51 to rotate the camera base to an arbitrary position. One preset SW 54 is pressed within two seconds after pressing the preset setting SW 55 at that position.

Then, the angle of the camera base with respect to the main axis at that time is stored in the memory in the system control means. The angle of the camera stand with respect to the main axis once stored in the memory is stored until the same operation is repeated. The photographer can point the camera head in the direction stored in advance by pressing the preset SW 54 regardless of the direction of the camera base.

Reference numeral 56 denotes an operation unit of the video camera. The photographer operates the operation switches of the operation unit to pan and tilt the pan head, zoom the camera unit of the video camera,
Various operations such as recording, stopping, fast-forwarding, and rewinding of the video section can be performed.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are explanatory views showing the vicinity of the joint between the camera head 102 and the electric camera platform 101 of the video camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the camera head has a mounting member 111. As shown in FIG. 4, the mounting member 111 is configured to be removably fitted and connected to the accessory shoe 112 as a pan head mounting member. As shown in FIG. 3B, a plurality of electric contacts 11 are provided on the bottom surface of the mounting member.
3, and a lead wire 114 is connected to each electrical contact, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the accessory shoe 112 is provided with electrical contacts 115 corresponding to the electrical contacts 113 of the mounting member.

When the mounting member of the camera head is fitted to the accessory shoe 112, as shown in FIG. 5, the electric contacts 113 and 115 come into contact with each other. Communication becomes possible.

FIGS. 6 to 8 are schematic diagrams showing the configuration of the electric pan head. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the overall configuration (however, the exterior is omitted), FIG. 7 is a view from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 6, and 8 is a view from the direction of arrow B in FIG. .

Reference numeral 1 denotes a camera base on which an accessory shoe 112 is provided. Reference numeral 40 denotes a helical gear formed integrally with the camera base. Reference numeral 2 denotes a camera stand support, which supports the camera stand. Reference numeral 42 denotes a tilt drive unit, and power is output from the tilt drive gear 41.

Reference numeral 43 denotes an electric circuit board which functions to drive the motors of the tilt drive unit and a pan drive unit which will be described later. Electric power and control signals are supplied through wires 44 from electric contacts provided on the accessory shoe 112. .

The electric circuit board 43 controls the well-known PWM of the pan motor and the tilt motor. At this time, the on / off ratio in the PWM control is changed by a system control unit (not shown).

When electric power is supplied to the tilt drive unit 42 from the electric circuit board 43, the tilt drive gear 41
Turns the helical gear 40 to change the inclination of the camera base 1.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a base. 7 is a pan bearing,
The base 6 is rotatable about a rotation axis vertically provided at the center. A chassis 8 is fixed on the pan bearing, and the camera support, a tilt drive unit, and a pan drive unit described later are fixed on the chassis. 5
Is a pan gear, which is fixed to the base 6.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a pan drive unit including a motor and a plurality of gears. The pan drive gear 4 has the same structure as the tilt drive gear. That is, when power is supplied from the electric circuit board 43 to the pan drive unit 3, the chassis 8 and the members mounted on the chassis 8 rotate.

The operation sequence of the system control means for the video camera and the camera platform will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

After the power is turned on, when the operation switch of the camera platform is pressed (step S1), it is determined whether or not the switch is for moving the preset position (step S2).

If the pressed SW is not the preset position moving SW, it is determined whether or not the pan operation SW is performed (step S).
3). If it is not the pan operation switch, it is determined in step S8 whether the tilt operation switch has been operated. Tilt operation S
If W is operated, tilt drive is performed by the switch S9, and if not, the process returns to the beginning.

If it is determined in step S3 that the pan operation switch has been operated, the tilt angle at that time is read (step S3).
4) It is determined whether the read tilt angle is ± 20 ° or more from the horizontal line (step S5). If the tilt angle exceeds ± 20 °, the tilt angle is driven horizontally (step S
6). Thereafter, pan driving is performed in step S7.

If the tilt angle is within ± 20 ° in step S5, the tilt angle is not driven as it is, and step S7
To pan and return to the beginning.

If it is determined in step S2 that the preset position movement SW has been pressed, it is determined in step S10 whether or not the movement in the pan direction is included from the difference between the preset position and the current position. If the driving in the pan direction is also included, the tilt angle is read in step S11 at that time, and it is determined whether or not the tilt angle read in step S12 is ± 20 ° or more from the horizontal line.

If the read tilt angle is more than ± 20 ° from the horizontal line, the tilt angle is set horizontal in step S13. If the read tilt angle is less than ± 20 ° from the horizontal line, the tilt angle is not driven. . And step S
Pan driving is performed at 14.

When the panning drive is completed, the tilt drive is performed to the tilt angle at the preset position (step S15).

(Other Embodiments) In the present embodiment, the threshold value for determining whether or not to make the tilt angle horizontal in steps S5 and S12 is ± 20 ° from the horizontal value. It may be a value. For example, when an electric pan head equipped with an image pickup device is used in a TV conference or the like, ± 20 ° to ± 20 °
May be set as the threshold value, and if the value deviates from the threshold value, the tilt angle may be set to + 20 ° instead of being set horizontally.

Further, specific numerical examples and the like used in the above embodiment are not necessarily limited to those numerical values and the like, and needless to say, they can be appropriately changed as needed.

(Effects of the Embodiment) As described above, according to the camera platform apparatus of the present embodiment, the case of simple movement and the movement to the preset position can be distinguished, so that control according to the movement can be performed. Further, there is an effect that the tilt angle of the camera platform when the panning operation switch is pressed is detected, and the control can be changed according to the detected angle. Furthermore, when the tilt angle of the camera platform is large, panning is performed after returning the camera platform to the horizontal position, so that there is no effect that nothing other than the sky and the ground is captured during the panning.

[0042]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
According to the electric pan head described in (1), there is an effect that the surroundings can be confirmed by the image of the imaging device during panning.

Further, according to the electric pan head described in claim 2, there is an effect that the tilt angle of the pan head can be detected.

Further, according to the electric pan head described in claim 3, there is an effect that a mode in which the tilt angle is horizontal before performing the panning operation and a mode in which the panning operation is performed at the same tilt angle can be selected.

According to the electric pan head described in the fourth aspect, the effect that the matters described in the first to third aspects can be realized is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an electric camera platform and a video camera according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an operation unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a camera head mounting portion.

[Figure 4] Head mount

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of fitting of an attachment member and an accessory shoe.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the overall configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 6;

8 is a view taken in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a control operation sequence between the video camera and the camera platform according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera stand 2 Camera stand support 3 Pan drive unit 4 Pan drive gear 5 Pan gear 6 Base 7 Pan bearing 8 Chassis 40 Helical gear 41 Tilt gear 42 Tilt drive unit 43 Electric circuit board 44 Wire 50, 51 Operation switch 52 for tilting , 53 Panning SW 54 Preset SW 55 Preset Setting SW 56 Video Camera Operation Unit 101 Motorized Head 102 Camera Head Unit 103 Video Camera 104 Liquid Crystal Viewfinder 105 Operation Unit 106 Cable 111 Mounting Member 112 Accessory Shoe 113 Electrical Contact 114 Lead Wire 115 Operation unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A head supported to perform a panning operation and a tilting operation, a driving mechanism for rotating the head in the panning direction and the tilting direction, respectively, and the driving mechanism And a control mechanism for controlling the pan head, wherein when the pan head device performs the panning operation, the panning is performed after setting the tilt angle of the pan head to a predetermined angle. Head device. 2. The electric pan head device according to claim 1, wherein a tilt angle of the pan head is detected before the panning operation is performed. 3. A mode for setting the tilt angle to a predetermined angle before performing the panning operation, based on the detected tilt angle, and a mode for performing a panning operation at the same tilt angle. The pan head device according to claim 1. 4. A system control method for an electric pan head device according to claim 1.