JPH11155086A - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal display part opening/closing mechanism for miniaturized and secured electronic still camera by sharing a mechanism to be locked with the main body of the camera when closing a liquid crystal display part and an open/close detecting switch mechanism for detecting the opening/closing state of the liquid crystal display part with the electronic still camera having the liquid crystal display part which can be opened and closed. SOLUTION: Concerning the electronic still camera provided with a liquid crystal display part 8 which can be opened and closed, one side of the lock mechanism for keeping the closed state is composed of a magnet 10, the other side is composed of a metal part attached to the magnet 10, and an open/close detecting switch 9 is provided while using a magnetic sensitive sensor for detecting the lock state so as to share the lock mechanism and the open/close detecting switch mechanism.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic still camera having a liquid crystal display, and more particularly to an opening and closing mechanism for the liquid crystal display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional electronic still camera having an openable and closable liquid crystal display unit is provided with a liquid crystal display unit and a camera body in order to secure the storage when the liquid crystal display unit is housed in a closed state. A lock mechanism is provided for the purpose of fixing the switch, and an open / close detection switch for detecting the state is separately provided by a separate mechanism. Further, an adjustment mechanism or the like for adjusting the detection timing of the open / close detection switch to the lock timing of the lock mechanism is required.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional configuration,
The structure becomes complicated, and an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the detection timing of the open / close detection switch to the above-mentioned lock mechanism is required, so that the structure is complicated and the reduction in size and weight of the device is hindered.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic still camera having an openable and closable liquid crystal display, a mechanism for locking the camera body when the liquid crystal display is closed, and an open / close detection switch mechanism for detecting the open / closed state of the liquid crystal display. And a liquid crystal display opening / closing mechanism for an electronic still camera which is compact and reliable.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image pickup device for converting subject light into an electric signal, and a signal processing for converting an electric signal obtained from the image pickup device into a video signal. Unit, a memory means for recording the video signal, and a liquid crystal display unit for displaying the video signal, an electronic still camera, a hinge mechanism for opening and closing the liquid crystal display unit with respect to the camera body, the liquid crystal display unit A lock mechanism that holds the closed state when the display surface is inward and the camera body is closed, and an open / close detection switch that is operated by a member of the lock mechanism when the liquid crystal display unit opens and closes with respect to the camera body. An electronic still camera is provided.

In the above electronic still camera,
The lock mechanism is composed of a metal part that is attracted to the magnet that is one member and the magnet that is the other member,
The open / close detection switch includes a magnetic sensor that detects the magnetism of the metal part.

[0007] According to the above configuration, locking and opening / closing of the liquid crystal display unit can be sensed by using the same mechanism.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an electronic still camera according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an embodiment of the electronic still camera according to the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 2A.

In FIG. 1, a subject image (not shown) is formed on an image sensor 2 by an optical lens 1, and the image signal converted into an electric signal by the image sensor 2 is converted into an image signal by a signal processing block 3, and is stored in a memory. Stored in block 7. The imaging device 2 is controlled by the CPU 4 and sends out an imaging signal. The CPU 4 manages the operation key unit 6 and also controls the power control unit 5.

The liquid crystal display unit 8 receives power from the power supply control unit 5 under the control of the CPU 4 and displays an image pickup signal of the subject image via the signal processing block 3 or displays the image pickup signal on the memory block 7. The stored image signal is reproduced and displayed.

Here, the magnet 10 attached to the liquid crystal display unit 8 is attracted to and locked by the metal part provided on the camera body side when the liquid crystal display unit 8 is stored and held with the display surface inside.

When the magnet 10 is attracted and locked to a metal part on the camera body side, the open / close detection switch 9 is mounted at a position facing the magnet with the metal part interposed therebetween. The switch 9 senses a magnetic field and notifies the CPU 4 that the liquid crystal display is housed and held in the main body. The CPU 4 controls the power supply of the liquid crystal display unit 8 and stops the image signal from the signal processing block 3 based on the information of the open / close switch 9,
The operation of the liquid crystal display unit 8 is stopped.

On the other hand, when the liquid crystal display unit 8 is similarly released from the main body storage holding and shifts to the opening operation, the magnetic field of the magnet 10 is cut off, and the open / close switch 9 operates to confirm that the liquid crystal display unit 8 is opened. A notification signal is sent to the CPU 4. In response to this, the CPU 4 turns on the power of the liquid crystal display and supplies an image signal from the signal processing block 3 to display an image on the liquid crystal display.

In FIG. 2, the lock mechanism shown in FIG.
The liquid crystal display unit 8 according to the present invention, which rotates around the hinge unit 12, shows a typical structure of a lock mechanism for storing and holding when stored in the camera body 14. Here, the magnet 10 and the metal part 11 may be disposed on either the liquid crystal display part 8 side or the camera body 14, and the magnet 10 and the metal part 11 may be paired.

In the detection switch section shown in FIG. 2B, a magnetically sensitive sensor 12 is provided in contact with the metal section 11 of the lock mechanism section, and is mounted on the side opposite to the attraction surface with the magnet 10. The magnetically responsive sensor 12 is a magnetic field detection switch operated by a magnetic field of the magnet 10. When the magnet 10 is attracted to the metal part 11, the magnetic field of the magnet 10 is detected and the liquid crystal display part 8 is housed in the camera body 14. CPU 4 confirms that it is locked and closed.
To enter.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, the mechanism for locking the storage of the liquid crystal display unit and the switch mechanism for detecting the open / close state of the liquid crystal display unit share the same mechanism. It has a small and reliable lock mechanism, which enables power saving control of the liquid crystal display.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing an appearance of an embodiment of an electronic still camera according to the present invention, and FIG.
It is AA 'sectional drawing of (a).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical lens 2 Image sensor 3 Signal processing block 4 CPU 5 Power supply control unit 6 Operation key unit 7 Memory block 8 Liquid crystal display part 9 Open / close detection switch 10 Magnet 11 Metal part 12 Magnetic sensor 14 Camera body

Claims (2)

[Claims] An image pickup device for converting subject light into an electric signal; a signal processing unit for converting an electric signal obtained from the image pickup device into a video signal; memory means for recording the video signal; An electronic still camera comprising: a liquid crystal display unit that displays a hinge mechanism that opens and closes the liquid crystal display unit with respect to the camera body; and a case that the liquid crystal display unit is closed with respect to the camera body with the display surface inside. A lock mechanism for maintaining a closed state,
An electronic still camera, comprising: an open / close detection switch that is operated by a member of the lock mechanism when the liquid crystal display unit opens and closes with respect to a camera body. 2. The lock mechanism comprises a magnet as one member and a metal part adsorbing the magnet as the other member, and the open / close detection switch comprises a magnetically sensitive sensor for detecting the magnetism of the metal part. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein