JPH11298832A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize a battery of the electronic camera by permitting it when at least either of printing by a printer connecting to or built in the camera and photographing by the camera is available if both the printing and photographing are not available because a residual capacity of the battery of the camera is less. SOLUTION: Two threshold values Vbat1, Vbat2 are set as threshold values to check a battery of the camera. When a release switch is depressed and even when the battery voltage Vbatt is between the thresholds Vbat1, Vbat2 (no printing is available for that voltage), photographing is permitted. When a print switch is depressed, the printing is permitted only when the battery voltage Vbatt is more than the threshold Vbat1. Thus, when the battery voltage Vbatt is more than the threshold Vbat2, although no printing a available, photographing is available without replacing the battery or charging the battery, then the shutter release opportunity for a picture is not missed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera,
In particular, the present invention relates to an electronic camera capable of printing an image with a printer built in or connected to the camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed an electronic camera equipped with a printer capable of recording a captured image on a memory card and printing the image with a printer (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-224).
No. 206). The electronic camera described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-224206 records an image on a memory card, particularly when a printer is not ready for printing and there is a memory card, and conversely, the preparation of the printer is completed. When there is no memory card, the printer prints the image, and when the printer is ready and there is a memory card, the image is printed and recorded.

That is, the electronic camera automatically determines the state of the printer and the state of the memory card, performs printing and recording in accordance with these states, and tries to avoid a shutter chance as much as possible.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-224206 does not describe a battery of an electronic camera, and, of course, judges the capacity of the battery and permits or inhibits a photographing operation and a printing operation. There is no description. Also, the electronic camera normally performs a battery check, and is configured to prohibit the photographing operation when the battery voltage becomes lower than a predetermined threshold for determining whether or not the photographing operation is possible, JP-A-9-
In Japanese Patent No. 224206, in an electronic camera, when one threshold is set for determining whether a printing operation and a photographing operation are possible and a battery check is performed based on the threshold, for example, a printing operation cannot be performed. Even if a shooting operation is possible, it will be banned uniformly, in this case the battery can not be used effectively,
You will miss a photo opportunity.

In general, most printers for printing images are thermal printers, and this type of printer requires energy supply to a head, paper feed, and head feed drive. Requires more power than operation (including the process of recording on the recording medium). The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and at least one of the battery operation becomes impossible even when both the printing operation with the printer built in or connected to the camera and the shooting operation with the camera become impossible. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera that permits the above operation when the operation is possible, and allows the battery to be used effectively.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application forms an image of an image of a subject on a light receiving surface of an image sensor, and forms an image on the light receiving surface of the image sensor. Imaging means for converting an imaged image light into an image signal; recording means for recording an image signal obtained by the imaging means on a recording medium when a shutter release switch is operated; and an image obtained by the imaging means Means for outputting a signal or an image signal read from the recording medium to a printer built in or connected to the camera and causing the printer to print an image, a battery for supplying power to each part of the camera, and detecting a voltage of the battery Battery voltage detecting means, a first threshold value for determining whether or not an image printing operation can be performed by the printer, a photographing process by the imaging means, and a recording process. A second threshold value for determining whether or not a photographing operation including a recording process is possible, and comparing the battery voltage detected by the battery voltage detection means with the first and second threshold values. Determining means for determining whether the printing operation and the photographing operation are possible, and means for permitting or prohibiting the printing operation and / or the photographing operation according to the determination result by the determining means. Features.

That is, the electronic camera according to claim 1 of the present invention
The first and second thresholds are set as thresholds for performing a battery check, and when the battery voltage is between these thresholds, the operation that consumes less power of the printing operation and the photographing operation is permitted. I am trying to do it. For example,
If the printing operation consumes more power, the shooting operation can be permitted even at the battery voltage at which the printing operation must be prohibited, so that the shooting operation can be performed without replacing the battery or charging the battery. An operation can be performed, and a shutter chance is not missed.

The warning means according to the second aspect of the present invention emits a warning display or a warning sound when at least one of the printing operation and the photographing operation is determined to be inoperable due to a decrease in the battery voltage, and is used accordingly. To alert people.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an electronic camera according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera according to the present invention. The electronic camera shown in the figure includes an internal printer 54 built in the camera, and records an image signal obtained by the imaging means on the memory card 36, and outputs an image signal obtained by the imaging means or an image signal read from the memory card 36. Output to the internal printer 54,
Can print an image.

That is, when the shutter release switch 50 is pressed, the main CPU 30 detects this and the camera C
Sends a command to PU22. The camera CPU 22 performs focus control, photometry, and exposure control, and
Image light of a subject through a solid-state imaging device (CCD) 12
The image is formed on the light receiving surface of. The CCD 12 converts the image light focused on the light receiving surface into signal charges of an amount corresponding to the light amount. The signal charges thus accumulated are sequentially read out as voltage signals (image signals) corresponding to the signal charges based on the clock pulse from the clock generation circuit 24. C
The image signal output from the CD 12 is applied to an analog processing circuit 14, where white balance adjustment and gamma correction are performed. The image signal analog-processed by the analog processing circuit 14 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 16 and then temporarily stored in the buffer memory 18.

The camera CPU 22 operates the flash control circuit 26 when the subject is dark. The strobe control circuit 26 controls the charging of a main condenser (not shown) and the discharge (light emission) to the xenon tube 28 in synchronization with the operation of the release switch 50 when the subject is dark.
Furthermore, the charge accumulation time (shutter speed) in the CCD 12 is controlled via the clock generation circuit 24. The clock generation circuit 24 includes the CCD 12 and the analog processing circuit 14.
And a clock pulse for driving the A / D converter 16 to synchronize each circuit.

The YC processing circuit 20 converts an image signal in the buffer memory 18 into a YC signal (luminance signal Y and chroma signal C) by a command applied from the main CPU 30 via the control bus 23, and converts the YC signal again. The data is stored in the buffer memory 18. Thereafter, the main CPU 30 sends a command to the compression / expansion circuit 32, whereby the compression / expansion circuit 32 compresses the YC signal in the buffer memory 18 and sends the compressed image data to the card interface 3.
4 to the memory card 36.

Next, the printing operation will be described. When the print switch in the operation key 48 is pressed, the main CP
U30 detects this, and transmits a print start command to the print / continuous shooting CPU 44 via the communication bus 25. Upon receiving the print start command, the print / continuous shooting CPU 44 occupies the memory bus 21 first. Subsequently, the print / continuous shooting CPU 44 controls the compression / decompression circuit 32 via the control bus 23 and reads out the compressed image data stored in the memory card 36 via the card interface 34. The read compressed image data is expanded into a YC signal by the compression / expansion circuit 32 and then temporarily stored in the buffer memory 18.

The print / continuous photographing CPU 44 converts the YC signal stored in the buffer memory 18 into RGB data and stores the RGB data in the continuous photograph / print memory 42.
The GB data is output to the internal printer 54 via the printer interface 46, and the image is printed. At this time, the internal printer 54 is controlled by the print / continuous shooting CPU 44.

The internal printer 54 is, for example, a color printer of a light fixing type thermal recording system, and includes a thermal head, a fixing lamp for fixing yellow and magenta, and a yellow layer, a magenta layer, and a cyan layer. It has a transport mechanism for transporting the photographic paper on which the thermosensitive coloring layer is formed. When printing a color image, first, the printing paper is conveyed at a constant speed, and the thermal head is adjusted so that the yellow layer has a color density according to the color image within the range of thermal energy at which the yellow layer develops. Then, the yellow color is fixed by the fixing lamp, and the photographic paper is returned to the printing start position. Less than,
Similarly, the magenta layer and the cyan layer of the printing paper are colored and fixed, thereby printing a color image on the printing paper.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 38 denotes a liquid crystal display panel for performing various displays such as a frame number and a warning display which will be described later; 40, a battery for supplying power to each section in the electronic camera including the internal printer 54; Is a DC input terminal into which a plug (not shown) of the AC power adapter is inserted. Next, the battery check will be described.

The voltage signal of the battery 40 is transmitted to the main CP
It is applied to the A / D converter of U30, where it is A / D converted. The main CPU 30 has two threshold values Vbat1,
Vbat2 is set, and the main CPU 30
The battery voltage value Vbatt subjected to the / D conversion is compared with the two threshold values Vbat1 and Vbat2, and a discrimination process shown in Table 1 below is performed based on the comparison result.

The threshold value Vbat1 is a threshold value for judging whether or not the printing operation by the internal printer 54 is possible, and the threshold value Vbat2 is a value indicating whether the photographing operation of the camera including the recording process to the memory card 36 is possible. This is a threshold for determining whether or not the power consumption required for the printing operation is greater than the power consumption required for the shooting operation (Vbat1> Vbat2).

[0019]

[Table 1] That is, as shown in Table 1, the main CPU 30 determines that the battery voltage value Vbatt is equal to or greater than the threshold value Vbat1 (Vbatt ≧ Vba
At t1), the printing operation and the photographing operation are respectively permitted. When the battery voltage value Vbatt is between the two threshold values Vbat1 and Vbat2 (Vbat1> Vbatt ≧ Vbat2), only the photographing operation is permitted, and the battery voltage is allowed. When the value Vbatt is less than the threshold value Vbat2 (Vbat1> Vbatt), the printing operation and the photographing operation are prohibited.

In the above case, the main CPU 30 causes the liquid crystal display panel 38 to display a warning indicating battery exhaustion. In this case, a warning display may be displayed when the print switch is pressed. Further, a warning sound may be generated instead of the warning display. Next, the operation of the main CPU 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The main CPU 30 performs a battery check at regular intervals as shown in FIG. That is,
After a lapse of a predetermined time (step S10), the battery voltage is A / D converted and a battery voltage value Vbatt is captured (step S12). This battery voltage value Vbatt
Is greater than or equal to the above-described threshold value Vbat1 (step S14), a flag (BATT STA
TUS) is set to 0 (step S16), and when it is determined that the battery voltage value Vbatt is between the threshold values Vbat1 and Vbat2 (step S18), the flag BATT STATUS is set to 1 (step S20), and the battery voltage is set. Value Vbatt
Is determined to be other than the above (less than the threshold value Vbat2),
The flag BATT STATUS is set to 0 (step S2
2).

On the other hand, the main CPU 30 determines whether or not the release switch 50 has been pressed and whether or not the print switch has been pressed during the period from when the battery check is performed to when the next battery check is performed (step S24). , S26). If it is determined in step S24 that the release switch 50 has been pressed, the flag BATT
It is determined whether STATUS is 2 or not (step S28), and BATT
If STATUS = 2, a warning operation indicating that shooting is impossible due to battery exhaustion is performed (step S38), and no shooting operation is performed. If BATT STATUS ≠ 2, further flag
It is determined whether BATTSTATUS is 0 (step S3).
0). When BATT STATUS = 0, a photographing operation is performed (Step S34). When BATT STATUS ≠ 0, for example, a warning operation indicating that printing is not possible is performed (Step S32), and a photographing operation is performed (Step S34). ).

If it is determined in step S26 that the print switch has been pressed, it is determined whether or not the flag BATT STATUS is 0 (step S36), and BATT STATUS =
If it is 0, a printing operation is performed (step S40), and BA
If TT STATUS ≠ 0, a warning operation indicating that printing is impossible due to battery exhaustion is performed (step S38), and no printing operation is performed.

In this embodiment, the internal printer 5
Although the description has been given of the electronic camera having the digital camera 4, the present invention can be applied to an electronic camera to which the external printer 56 can be connected. When the external printer 56 is not receiving power from the battery 40, the electronic camera only needs to be able to output image data to the external printer 56, and the power consumption of the battery 40 required for the printing operation is smaller than that for the shooting operation. Can be considered. In this case, the external printer 56
The threshold value Vbat3 (that is, the lowest battery voltage value at which image data can be output to the external printer 56) for determining whether or not printing can be performed is determined whether or not the above-described shooting operation is possible. The threshold value is lower than the threshold value Vbat2. Then, by setting the threshold value Vbat3, the battery voltage value Vbatt becomes equal to the threshold values Vbat2 and Vbat2.
If it is between bat3 and bat3, the image data can be output (printed) to the external printer 56 even if the photographing operation is prohibited.

Further, when power is supplied from the AC power adapter to the DC input terminal 41, another mode can be adopted. That is, in an electronic camera capable of performing a photographing operation and a printing operation at the same time, when the power from the AC power adapter is supplied to the DC input terminal 41, the photographing operation and the printing operation are simultaneously performed. I do. The main CPU 30 has a DC input terminal 4
Whether or not power is supplied to 1 can be determined by the voltage value of the line 27.

Further, in this embodiment, the electronic camera having the color printer of the light fixing type thermal recording system has been described, but the type of the printer is not limited to this.

[0027]

As described above, according to the electronic camera of the present invention, two thresholds (that is, a threshold for determining whether or not a printing operation is possible) and a shooting threshold are set as thresholds for performing a battery check. (Threshold value for determining whether or not operation is possible) is set, and it is determined whether or not the printing operation and the photographing operation can be individually performed. Even if you enter
The operation with the smaller power consumption of the printing operation and the photographing operation can be permitted, and the battery can be used effectively. In particular, when the printing operation consumes more power, the photographing operation can be permitted even at the battery voltage at which the printing operation must be prohibited, so that the battery is not replaced or the battery is not charged. In addition, there is an advantage that a photographing operation can be performed quickly and a shutter chance is not missed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a control procedure of a main CPU shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 optical unit 12 solid-state imaging device (CCD) 18 buffer memory 20 YC processing circuit 22 camera CPU 30 main CPU 32 compression / expansion circuit 34 card interface 36 memory card 40 battery 41 DC input Terminal 42: Continuous shooting / print memory 44: Print / continuous shooting CPU 46: Printer interface 48: Operation key 50: Shutter release switch 54: Internal printer 56: External printer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 5/225 H04N 5/225 A 5/232 5/232 Z

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup means for forming an image of a subject on a light receiving surface of an image sensor, converting the image light formed on the light receiving surface of the image sensor into an image signal, and operating a shutter release switch. Recording means for recording an image signal obtained by the imaging means on a recording medium; and outputting an image signal obtained by the imaging means or an image signal read from the recording medium to a printer built in or connected to the camera. Means for causing the printer to print an image; a battery for supplying power to each part of the camera; a battery voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage of the battery; and whether or not the printer can perform an image printing operation. A first threshold value for determining and a second threshold value for determining whether or not a photographing operation including a photographing process by the photographing unit and a recording process by the recording unit is possible; Determining means for determining whether the printing operation and the photographing operation are possible by comparing the battery voltage detected by the battery voltage detecting means with the first and second threshold values, Means for permitting or prohibiting the printing operation and / or the photographing operation in accordance with the result of the determination by the determining means. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a warning unit that outputs a warning display or a warning sound when at least one of the printing operation and the photographing operation is determined to be inoperable by the determination unit. Electronic camera.