JPH11160775A - Camera apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a camera apparatus equipped with a monitor which is excellent in weight balance in a state where a cover to protect the monitor when the camera apparatus is carried is opened when the camera apparatus is used though such a cover is provided, which is stably handled at the time of photographing and which hardly causes camera shake. SOLUTION: This camera apparatus is equipped with an image pickup lens part having a CCD 6 and a monitor part by a liquid crystal display panel 8 for displaying a photographic image and a reproduced image in a camera main body 1; it is equipped with a cover member 2 assembled to slide with respect to the main body 1 and having a part covering over the image pickup lens part and the monitor part; and then it is provided with a battery housing part 9 housing a battery B at the end of the member 2 on an opposite side of the main body 1 side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera device having a monitor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a camera in which an imaging lens unit and a finder unit are covered with an integral cover so that the camera can be protected when the camera is carried. In addition, many electronic still cameras that have become widespread in recent years are equipped with a monitor using a liquid crystal display panel.

[0003]

In an electronic still camera, as in the case of a conventional camera, when the imaging lens unit and the monitor unit are covered with an integral cover, a monitor using a liquid crystal display panel having a relatively large area is used. Must be covered, the amount of opening the cover during use increases. However, in use, if the opening amount of the cover is increased, the cover becomes lighter, while the body side is heavier, and the weight balance is poor, so that there is a problem that it is difficult to handle at the time of photographing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a camera device having a monitor, which has a cover for covering and protecting the monitor when the camera is carried, has a good weight balance when the cover is opened during use, and has a stable handling when photographing. And make it hard to shake.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a camera device having a camera body provided with an imaging lens unit and a monitor unit for displaying a photographed image and a reproduced image. A cover member slidably assembled to the camera body and having at least a portion covering the monitor section, and a battery housing for housing a battery at an end of the cover member opposite to the camera body side. And a configuration in which a unit is provided.

Here, the imaging lens unit is, for example, a CCD.
Although the focus is on, the one composed only of the optical system may be used. The monitor unit is typically a liquid crystal display panel, for example, but may be another display unit. The camera body, besides the imaging lens unit and the monitor unit,
It is provided with an operation unit by various switches and the like, and may be further provided with an optical finder unit. Examples of the camera device include an electronic still camera using a CCD as an imaging device, but a camera using another device may be used. The cover member may be, for example, a box-shaped member that covers the front and back surfaces of the camera body, but may have any shape as long as it covers at least the monitor unit. Further, the sliding direction of the cover member may be a horizontal direction or a vertical direction. The battery housing may have any shape and structure as long as it is located at the end opposite to the camera body.

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a camera device in which a battery housing portion is provided at an end of a cover member slidable and covering a monitor portion, opposite to the camera body side. Therefore, the monitor unit can be covered and protected by the cover member when it is carried. Then, open the cover member sideways with respect to the camera body to expose the monitor section, hold the camera body with one hand, hold the cover member with the other hand, and take a picture while looking at the monitor section. In this case, since the battery housing is provided at the end of the cover member on the side opposite to the camera body side, the weight balance between the left and right in handling is stable, and hand shake is difficult.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the camera device according to the first aspect, wherein the cover member has a portion for covering the imaging lens portion.

Thus, according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the cover member according to the first aspect also has a portion covering the imaging lens section, the imaging lens section can be carried together with the monitor section when it is carried. Can be covered and protected by a cover member, while the cover member is opened and the image pickup lens unit is exposed together with the monitor unit to take a picture.

[0010] The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect.
The camera device according to claim 1, wherein an on / off operation of a power switch is performed in conjunction with an opening / closing operation by a sliding operation of the cover member.

As described above, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the camera device performs the ON / OFF operation of the power switch in conjunction with the opening / closing operation by the sliding operation of the cover member according to the first or second aspect, When the cover is opened, the power switch is turned on to take a picture, and when the cover is closed, the power switch is turned off so that forgetting to turn off the power can be prevented.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 2 or 3.
The camera device according to claim 1, wherein the camera body includes an optical finder section, and the cover member has a portion that covers the optical finder section.

Thus, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the cover member according to the second or third aspect is a camera device having a portion for covering the optical finder portion. While the optical finder can be covered and protected by a cover member, the cover member can be opened to expose and expose the optical finder together with the monitor and the imaging lens.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the camera device according to the fourth aspect, a half-open mode in which the imaging lens unit and the optical finder unit are exposed while the monitor unit is covered by a sliding operation of the cover member. Which has the following features.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a half-open mode in which the imaging lens unit and the optical finder unit are exposed while the monitor unit is covered by the sliding operation of the cover member according to the fourth aspect. Since the camera device is used, the imaging lens unit and the optical finder unit can be exposed and photographed with the cover member in a half-open state, and power consumption can be saved because a monitor unit is not used.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a camera device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
First, FIGS. 1 to 3 show a camera device as an example to which the present invention is applied, and are a front view, a plan view, and a rear view showing a state in which a cover member is closed, and FIGS. ,
It is the cross-sectional view and longitudinal cross-sectional view which showed the internal schematic structure.
FIG. 6 is a front view showing a use state in which the cover member is in a half-open state. 7 to 9 are a rear view, a front view, and a plan view showing a use state in which the cover member is fully opened, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are cross-sectional views showing a schematic configuration of the inside. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view.

1 to 11, reference numeral 1 denotes a camera body, 2 denotes a cover member, 3 denotes a shutter button,
Is an imaging lens unit, 5 is an optical finder unit, 6 is a CCD,
7 is a monitor unit, 8 is a liquid crystal display panel, 9 is a battery storage unit,
B is a battery. In this embodiment, a camera device to which the present invention is applied is an electronic still camera. As shown, a box-shaped cover member 2 having only one side opened is slid in a camera body 1 in a lateral direction. It is operably assembled. The shutter button 3 is provided on the upper surface of the box-shaped cover member 2 near the end opposite to the camera body 1, and a plurality of operation buttons are provided adjacent to the shutter button 3. I have. The imaging lens unit 4 facing the front side and the optical finder unit 5 above the imaging lens unit 4 are provided near the end of the camera body 1 opposite to the cover member 2.

As shown in the figure, the camera body 1 is provided with various operation buttons, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 6 for taking in an image from the imaging lens unit 4, and a digital image of the captured image. A storage circuit (not shown) and a control circuit (not shown) for converting and storing the data are built in. Further, a monitor 7 for displaying a captured image and a reproduced image is provided on the rear side of the camera body 1 opposite to the imaging lens unit 4. The monitor unit 7 includes a liquid crystal display panel 8 and is located next to the optical finder unit 5. A battery housing 9 is provided inside the box-shaped cover member 2 at the end opposite to the camera body 1.
The batteries B, B are stored.

Incidentally, the cover member 2 and the camera body 1 are electrically connected via a power supply means such as a flexible substrate or a conductive metal plate (not shown). A power switch (not shown) is linked to the opening / closing operation of the cover member 2 with respect to the camera body 1, that is, is turned off with the cover member 2 closed with respect to the camera body 1, and It is set to be ON when is opened. Further, in addition to the fully closed state and the fully open state, the cover member 2 is also in a half-open mode in which it is once held in a locked state at a half-open position exposing the imaging lens unit 4 and the optical finder unit 5 with only the monitor unit 7 closed. Have. The power supply of the monitor unit 7 (the liquid crystal display panel 8) is turned off until the full open state beyond the half open mode.
It is set so that it is maintained in the F state, is fully opened, and is turned ON.

Next, how to use the above electronic still camera will be described. When carrying, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the box-shaped cover member 2 is fully closed in the camera body 1, and the imaging lens unit 4, the optical finder unit 5,
The monitor unit 7 and various operation buttons are covered by the cover member 2. Therefore, the protection of the imaging lens unit 4, the optical finder unit 5, the monitor unit 7, and various operation buttons can be achieved when the camera is carried. In addition, since the power switch is set to 0FF when the cover member 2 is fully closed with respect to the camera body 1 when carrying the camera, there is no fear of inadvertent power-on when not in use. At this time, the batteries B, B housed in the battery housing section 9 in the cover member 2 are in a state of being close to the end of the camera body 1 as shown in FIGS.

At the time of photographing, the camera body 1 is pulled out from the box-shaped cover member 2 as shown by an arrow in FIG. As described above, when the camera body 1 is pulled out from the cover member 2, as shown in FIG. 6, the camera unit 1 is temporarily locked in the half-open position where the imaging lens unit 4 and the optical finder unit 5 are exposed while only the monitor unit 7 is closed. In the half-open mode. In the half-open mode, the power switch is turned on, so that the photographing can be performed while looking through the optical finder section 5. Therefore, even when the entire camera body 1 is not pulled out from the cover member 2, it can be used for photographing. In such a half-open mode, the monitor unit 7
Since the power of the (liquid crystal display panel 8) is turned off, the power consumption of the monitor unit 7 (the liquid crystal display panel 8) that is not used can be saved.

After the camera body 1 is widely pulled out from the cover member 2 through the above-described half-open mode and the cover member 2 is fully opened with respect to the camera body 1, as shown in FIGS. The lens unit 4, the optical finder unit 5, the monitor unit 7, and various operation buttons are completely exposed. At this time, the batteries B, B housed in the battery housing portion 9 in the cover member 2 are in a state far away from the end of the camera body 1, as shown in FIGS. The power of the monitor unit 7 (the liquid crystal display panel 8) is turned on. Thus, the user holds the camera body 1 with his left hand.
With the cover member 2 held by the right hand, the photographer presses the shutter button 3 with the right finger while looking at the monitor 7 as shown in FIG.

At the time of this photographing, since the battery housing portion 9 (batteries B, B) in the cover member 2 is far away from the end of the camera body 1, hold the camera body 1 with the left hand. The right and left weight balance in handling performed with the cover member 2 held by the right hand is stabilized. Therefore, camera shake is less likely to occur, and good photographing can be performed.

In the embodiment, the cover member 2 is slidable in the horizontal direction, but may be a cover member slid in the vertical direction. As described above, in the case of a cover member that is slidable in the vertical direction, an effect that the weight balance in the vertical direction is stable and the camera shake is less likely to be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the electronic still camera is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In addition, an image recording function by analog conversion with an analog camera and an image reproducing function with a monitor May also be used as the camera. In addition, the specific structure and design of each part are also arbitrary, and it goes without saying that the specific detailed structure and the like can be appropriately changed.

[0026]

As described above, according to the camera device of the first aspect of the present invention, the battery housing is provided at the end of the cover member, which is slidable and covers the monitor, on the opposite side to the camera body. The monitor unit can be covered and protected by a cover member when carrying, and the monitor unit can be held by holding the camera body with one hand and sliding the cover body with the other hand. When shooting while looking at the part, there is a battery storage part at the end of the cover member opposite to the camera body side, so that the left and right weight balance in handling is stabilized and it is difficult to shake be able to.

According to the camera device of the second aspect of the present invention, since the cover member also has a portion for covering the imaging lens portion, in addition to the effect obtained by the first aspect of the present invention, the monitor can be used when the camera is carried. The advantage is that while the camera unit and the imaging lens unit can be protected, the monitor unit and the imaging lens unit can be exposed and photographed.

According to the camera device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the power switch is turned on / off in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the cover member. Therefore, in addition to the effects obtained by the first or second aspect of the present invention, When the cover is opened, the power switch is turned on to take a picture, and when the cover is closed, the power switch is turned off, so that an advantage of preventing forgetting to turn off the power can be prevented.

According to the camera device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the cover member also has a portion for covering the optical finder portion, in addition to the effects obtained by the second or third aspect of the present invention, While the monitor, the imaging lens, and the optical finder can sometimes be protected, there is an advantage that the monitor, the imaging lens, and the optical finder can be exposed and photographed.

The camera device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention has a half-open mode in which the imaging lens unit and the optical finder unit are exposed while the monitor unit is covered by the sliding operation of the cover member. In addition to the effects obtained by the invention described in 4, the imaging lens unit and the optical finder unit can be exposed and photographed in a half-open state of the cover member, and power consumption can be saved because a monitor unit is not used. The advantage that it can be obtained is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a camera device as an example to which the present invention is applied, showing a state in which a cover member is closed.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the camera device of FIG. 1 as viewed from above.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the camera device of FIG. 1 as viewed from the opposite side.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of the state of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the state of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a use state in which the cover member is in a half-open state from the state of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a rear view showing a use state in which the cover member is fully opened from the state of FIG. 3;

8 is a front view of the camera device of FIG. 7 as viewed from the opposite side.

9 is a plan view of the camera device of FIG. 7 as viewed from above.

FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view of the state of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of the state of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera main body 2 Cover member 3 Shutter button 4 Imaging lens unit 5 Optical finder unit 6 CCD 7 Monitor unit 8 Liquid crystal display panel 9 Battery storage unit B Battery

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A camera device comprising an imaging lens unit and a monitor unit for displaying a photographed image and a reproduced image on a camera body, wherein the camera unit is slidably mounted on the camera body and covers at least the monitor unit. A camera device, comprising: a cover member having: a battery housing portion for housing a battery at an end of the cover member opposite to the camera body. 2. The camera device according to claim 1, wherein said cover member has a portion for covering said imaging lens unit. 3. The camera device according to claim 1, wherein an on / off operation of a power switch is performed in conjunction with an opening / closing operation by a sliding operation of the cover member. 4. The camera body according to claim 2, wherein the camera body is provided with an optical finder portion, and the cover member has a portion covering the optical finder portion. Camera device. 5. The camera according to claim 4, wherein the camera has a half-open mode in which the imaging lens unit and the optical finder unit are exposed while the monitor unit is covered by a sliding operation of the cover member. apparatus.