JPH11344749A - Stroboscope device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stroboscope device provided with an optical member having an optical acting surface consisting of consecutive curved surfaces, hardly causing a strain caused by the solidification speed difference of materials and easy in die machining. SOLUTION: This stroboscope device is constituted of optical members 5 and 5A having a first optical acting surface 6 consisting of the consecutive curved surfaces and a second optical acting surface 7 formed by being divided into plural regions through level difference structure 8 consisting of plural wall surfaces provided in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of a light source.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a strobe device used as an artificial light source for illuminating a subject during photographing, and more particularly, to a strobe device having an optical member for controlling an irradiation angle of light emitted from a light emitting section. It concerns the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a strobe device has been known as an artificial light source for illuminating a subject at the time of taking a photograph. Such a strobe device usually has a light-emitting portion including at least a rod-shaped light source and a reflector. It is provided with an optical member that controls the irradiation angle of light emitted toward the subject by being disposed in front of the light source directly from the rod-shaped light source or reflected by the reflector.

Further, the above-mentioned optical member is provided as another optical member for forming a light-emitting window in a light-emitting portion, and an optical member formed as an auxiliary member that can be attached to and detached from the light-emitting window formed of the another optical member. Flash devices are also well known. By the way, from the viewpoint of miniaturization of the optical member, when it is desired to obtain light-collecting characteristics as optical characteristics, a continuous curved surface is divided into a large number through a plane, and the connected optical surface is transparent. For example, a so-called Fresnel lens formed on one side of a light-transmitting flat member, and when it is desired to obtain diffusion characteristics, an optical surface formed of, for example, a square pyramid is formed on one side of a light-transmitting flat member, for example. So-called wide panels are well known in the art and are commonly used. The same applies to an optical member formed as an auxiliary member.

Further, the above-mentioned method for producing an optical member is also applied to a mold provided with a surface capable of forming an optically active surface on which a heat-melted translucent resin such as acryl is to be obtained. 2. Description of the Related Art A method of manufacturing by solidifying a resin in a mold is well known.

[0005]

As described above, various configurations of the optical member in the strobe device are known and put to practical use according to the intended use, and the optical member has a flat plate shape as a whole. Most of the members, that is, optical members having a configuration in which an appropriate optical working surface for realizing desired optical characteristics is formed on one surface or both surfaces of a flat plate shape.

For this reason, in the above-mentioned manufacturing method, the heat-fused light-transmitting resin does not wrap around to the end or corner in the mold, or unacceptable distortion due to a difference in solidification speed occurs. There were few problems. However, for example, in the case where a configuration having an optically active surface composed of a continuous curved surface is required as a whole shape from the optical characteristics to be obtained or the design surface, the above-described known optical member has the following disadvantages. Will have.

That is, if the surface opposing the optical working surface has a planar configuration, the thickness of the central portion and the end portion of the optical member will be different, and the above-described unacceptable distortion due to the solidification speed difference will occur. Will produce a point. Therefore, it is desired that the opposing surfaces are also formed as optical action surfaces based on, for example, a curved surface configuration that can keep the thickness of the optical member constant.

In such a case, however, the thickness can be kept constant, but as a result, both surfaces of the optical member become optically active surfaces. Therefore, a new active surface for realizing desired optical characteristics is newly added to both surfaces of the optical member. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a shared design. In this design, in consideration of miniaturization of the optical member when obtaining either the light-collecting property or the diffusion property, the above-described continuous curved surface is divided into a large number through a plane, and the optical surface or the four-sided curved surface is connected. The optical surface made of a pyramid is formed on the basis of a curved surface configuration that can keep the thickness of the optical member constant.

Accordingly, the structure of the obtained optical surface is a divided curved surface structure based on the curved surface configuration or a quadrangular pyramid structure, which is an extremely complicated structure, which requires a high precision mold processing. It is nothing but new point generation. The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described disadvantages, and has a configuration including an optical action surface including a continuous curved surface as an overall shape.
There is almost no problem that the heat-fused translucent resin does not wrap around to the end or corner in the mold, or unacceptable distortion occurs due to the difference in solidification speed. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a strobe device including an optical member that does not become complicated.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A strobe device according to the present invention is arranged in front of the reflector of a light-emitting portion including at least a rod-like light source and a reflector, thereby directly from the rod-like light source or to the reflector. A strobe device including an optical member that controls an irradiation angle of light emitted toward a subject by being reflected, wherein the optical member includes:
A rod-shaped light source including a first optically active surface formed of a continuous curved surface at least on a surface facing the subject, and a distance between the first optically active surface and the surface not facing the subject being substantially equal to each other; And a second optical action surface divided into a plurality of regions via a wall surface provided in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the optical disc.

Thus, the plurality of regions forming the second optically active surface are connected to each other via a step structure formed by the wall surface provided toward the first optically active surface, and the first optically active surface is connected to the first optically active surface by such a stepped structure. The distance to the second optical working surface can be controlled to be substantially equal, in other words, the thickness of the optical member can be kept substantially constant. Without reference to the curved surface configuration corresponding to the curved surface of the optical action surface, for example, it can be performed on the basis of a flat surface or a substantially flat surface. It is possible to obtain a strobe device provided with an optical member that hardly causes problems such as generation of unacceptable distortion and that does not particularly complicate mold processing.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the first aspect of the present invention, the light-emitting portion including at least a rod-shaped light source and a reflector is disposed in front of the reflector to directly emit the light from the rod-shaped light source or the light source. The optical member in a strobe device including an optical member that controls an irradiation angle of light emitted toward a subject by being reflected by a reflector, from at least a curved surface continuous to a surface facing the subject. A wall provided in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped light source so that the surface not facing the subject is substantially equal in distance to the first optical working surface. And a step formed by a wall provided in the plurality of regions forming the second optical operation surface so as to face the first optical operation surface. An effect that can be articulated form through the concrete.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a strobe device according to the first aspect, wherein the light emitting unit comprises a separate optical member for controlling an irradiation angle of light emitted from the light emitting unit to a subject. The optical member is provided with a window, and the optical member is formed as an auxiliary member that can be attached to and detached from the light emitting window, and has the same operation as that of the first aspect.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a strobe device according to the first or second aspect, wherein a continuous curved surface is divided into a large number of continuous curved surfaces by a plurality of optical surfaces connected to each other. Claim 1 which has been formed.
Has the same function as. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the strobe device according to the first or second aspect, the second optical working surface is formed by an optical surface formed by connecting quadrangular pyramids, and is similar to the first aspect. Has the action of

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the strobe device according to the second aspect, the optical member has a shape that covers the light emitting window and is disposed in front of the light emitting window so that the light emitting window is provided. An optical action portion that controls the emission direction of light incident from the portion and emits the light to the outside, and is formed integrally extending from the longitudinal end of the rod-shaped light source in the optical portion in the direction of the light-emitting window portion. The strobe device has a substantially U-shaped cross-section including a pair of holding action portions provided with at least one first holding structure that constitutes a part of the first mounting means or the second mounting means. The main body is
The first mounting means or the second mounting means constituting the second mounting means by being combined with the holding structure is formed, and has the same operation as the first aspect.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the strobe device according to the fifth aspect, the first holding structure is formed by a pair of locking projections provided on opposing surfaces of the pair of holding portions. A second holding structure is provided on a housing constituting an outer wall of the main body of the strobe device, and a pair of locking members that form the first mounted state or the second mounted state by fitting with the pair of locking protrusions. It is formed by a concave portion, and has the same function as the first aspect.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic external perspective view showing an embodiment of a strobe device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic sectional view of an optical member indicated by reference numeral 5 in FIG. I have.
As shown in FIG. 1, a main body 1 of a strobe device according to the present embodiment includes an electric circuit including a power source (not shown) and a shoe portion 2 provided below a mounting shoe portion of a camera (not shown). It includes a main body 3 having a built-in configuration, a light-emitting section 4 having a rod-shaped light source (not shown), a reflector, and the like, and emitting light emitted from the rod-shaped light source to an external object (not shown) via an optical member 5. In.

As is apparent from the enlarged schematic sectional view shown in FIG. 2, the optical member 5 in the strobe device of the present embodiment has a curved surface continuous with a surface (not shown) facing the subject. A plurality of wall surfaces 8a provided in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped light source so that the first optical operation surface 6 is provided on one side not facing the subject so that the distance from the first optical operation surface 6 is substantially equal. And a second optical working surface 7 which is divided into a plurality of regions 7a to 7e via a step structure 8 formed by 8d to 8d.

Further, each of the plurality of regions 7a to 7e of the second optical working surface 7 in the optical member 5 of the present embodiment
The first optical action surface 6 is formed by an optical surface formed by a series of quadrangular pyramids on the basis of a parallel plane indicated by alternate long and short dash lines a to c in FIG. Therefore, in the optical member 5 of the present embodiment, the plurality of regions 7 a to 7
The distance e between the first optical operating surface 6 and the second optical operating surface 7 is controlled to be substantially equal by the step structure 8 formed by the plurality of wall surfaces 8a to 8d. Since the thickness of the portion and the end portion is kept substantially constant, there is no inconvenience that unacceptable distortion occurs due to a difference in solidification speed of the heat-melted translucent resin in the mold.

Similarly, by the step structure 8, the design of the optical surface in each of the plurality of regions 7a to 7e constituting the second optical operating surface 7 is changed to the curved surface corresponding to the curved surface of the first optical operating surface 6 as described above. The process can be performed based on a flat surface without using the configuration as a reference, so that mold processing does not become complicated. In the present embodiment, the design of the optical surface in each of the plurality of regions 7a to 7e constituting the second optical action surface 7 is performed with reference to the parallel plane, but the present invention is not limited to this. The mold processing becomes easier as a reference is made to a flat surface that is not the same or to a reference to a curved surface configuration having a curvature larger than the curved surface of the first optical action surface 6, in other words, to a reference to a substantially flat surface closer to the flat surface. Depending on the optical characteristics to be obtained from the above, the design may be made with reference to a substantially flat surface.

As a result, even in the case where the overall shape has a structure having an optically active surface formed of a continuous curved surface, the heat-fused light-transmitting resin does not enter the end or corner in the mold. It is possible to provide a strobe device provided with an optical member which hardly causes problems such as being not performed or causing unacceptable distortion due to a difference in solidification speed, and in which mold processing is not particularly complicated.

In this embodiment, the plurality of areas 7
Although an optical surface formed by a series of quadrangular pyramids is employed as the second optical action surface 7 composed of a to 7e, for example, a continuous curved surface is divided into a large number through a plane in order to satisfy desired optical characteristics and connected. When it is desired or necessary to employ an optical surface having a so-called Fresnel lens configuration, some of the above-described planes for dividing the curved surface into a large number have substantially the same distance from the first optical action surface 6. In this way, it can be dealt with by designing the height of the rod-shaped light source in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction to be higher than that in the case of normal flattening.

(Embodiment 2) FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic perspective views showing another embodiment of a strobe device according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is indicated by reference numeral 5A in FIGS. FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of the optical member, in which components having the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicate the same functional components. As is clear from FIGS. 3 and 4, this embodiment is different from the previous embodiment in that an optical member 5A having a first optical action surface 6 formed of a continuous curved surface is connected to a light emitting window described later. This is an example in which the auxiliary member is formed as an auxiliary member that can be attached to and detached from the portion 10.

Light-emitting section 4 of the flash device of the present embodiment
Is a light emitting window unit 1 which is fixedly disposed on the main body 1 of the strobe device in front of a not-shown reflector, and includes another optical member 9 for controlling the irradiation angle of light emitted from the light emitting unit 4 to the subject.
0 is provided. On both end surfaces of the light emitting unit 4, a pair of locking recesses 11 and 12 each functioning to mount an optical member 5A as an auxiliary member in front of or above the light emitting unit 4 are provided.
Are formed.

The optical member 5A includes a light emitting window 10 of the light emitting unit 4.
An optical action part 5Aa that controls the emission direction of light emitted from the light emission window part 5 and emits the light to the outside by being positioned in front of the light emission window part 10 and the optical action part 5A
and a pair of holding action portions 5Ab integrally extending from the opposite end portions in the direction of the light emission window portion 10a and having a substantially U-shaped cross section.

As is clear from the enlarged schematic sectional view of FIG. 5, the structure of the optical action portion 5Aa is similar to that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. A quadrangular pyramid was formed on the surface facing the working surface 6 on the basis of a plane formed through a step structure 8 formed by a plurality of wall surfaces 8a to 8d provided in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped light source. It comprises a second optical working surface 7 divided into a plurality of regions 7a to 7e formed of optical surfaces.

That is, similarly to the previous embodiment, the optical action portion 5Aa of the optical member 5A in the present embodiment also has the first optical action surface 6 and the second optical action surface 7 by the step structure 8 having the plurality of wall surfaces 8a to 8d. Are controlled to be substantially equal to each other. For this reason, there is no inconvenience that unacceptable distortion occurs due to a difference in the solidification rate of the heat-melted translucent resin in the mold.
Can be designed based on a flat surface without using a curved surface configuration corresponding to the curved surface of the first optical action surface 6 as a reference, and mold processing does not become complicated.

It should be noted that the design of the optical surface constituting the second optical action surface 7 is not limited to the design based on a flat surface, as in the previous embodiment. It may be designed as a reference. In addition, the opposing surfaces of the pair of holding action portions 5Ab of the optical member 5A include:
As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of locking projections 13 of the first holding configuration are provided.

The pair of locking projections 13 are formed on both side end surfaces of the light emitting section 4 constituting the main body 1 of the strobe device so that they can be respectively fitted to the pair of locking recesses 11 and 12. Is configured. That is, the locking recess 1
Reference numerals 1 and 12 are provided as a second holding configuration for the pair of locking projections 13 that are the first holding configuration. Therefore, a pair of locking projections 13 provided on the holding action portion 5Ab
Is fitted to locking recesses 11 formed on both end surfaces of the light emitting section 4 constituting the main body 1 of the strobe device, so that the optical action section 5Aa as shown in FIG. A first mounting state in which the optical member 5A is mounted on the main body 1 so as to be located in front of the main body 10 can be obtained. That is, the pair of locking projections 13 and locking recesses 11
The mounting means is constituted.

In the first mounting state, the light emitted from the light emitting window 10 by the light emitting operation of the light emitting unit 4 enters the optical operating unit 5Aa of the optical member 5A, and this optical operating unit 5A
It is emitted to the outside after being optically controlled by a. For example, by setting the optical characteristics of the optical action portion 5Aa as optical characteristics for diffusing incident light, an illumination state at an irradiation angle wider than the irradiation angle of light emitted only through the light emitting window 10 is set. It is possible to cope with photographing using a photographing lens having a shorter focal length.

On the other hand, once the optical member 5A is once removed from the light emitting section 4 from the state shown in FIG.
b, by engaging the pair of locking projections 13 provided with the locking recesses 12 formed on both side end surfaces of the light emitting unit 4, the optical member 5 </ b> A is connected to the optical operating unit 5 </ b> Aa (not shown). It is possible to obtain a second mounting state in which the light-emitting unit 4 is mounted on the main body 1 in a state where the light-emitting unit is not located in front of the light-emitting window unit 10 but above the light-emitting unit. That is, the pair of locking projections 13 provided on the holding action portion 5Ab and the locking recesses 12 formed on both end surfaces of the light emitting portion 4 constitute the second mounting means.

In the second mounting state, the light emitted from the light emitting window 10 by the light emitting operation of the light emitting unit 4 is emitted outside without being controlled by the optical member 5A. As described above, in this embodiment, in addition to the same operation as the above-described embodiment, the auxiliary member can be used as an auxiliary member only by attaching / detaching the optical member 5A to / from the main body 1 based on the first and second mounting means. An optical control state using the optical member 5A or an optical non-control state not used can be set.

Also, in the illustrated embodiment, a pair of locking projections 13 and a pair of locking recesses 11 and 1 are provided as a first holding structure and a second holding structure forming first and second mounting means.
Although the number 2 is employed, for example, depending on the setting of the elastic force of the holding action portion 5Ab with respect to the light emitting portion 4, a combination of one locking projection and one locking concave portion may be employed. Further, two sets of the locking recesses 11 and 12 are employed as the second holding configuration. For example, by forming the locking projection 13 into a predetermined shape such as a hemispherical shape, a predetermined shape relationship such as a set of hemispherical shapes is formed. The stopping recesses 11 and 12 can also be used as the stopping recesses.

[0034]

As described above, the present invention is directed to a second optical system comprising a first optically acting surface formed of a continuous curved surface and a plurality of regions formed by being connected to each other via a step structure formed by a plurality of wall surfaces. Since the optical member is provided with the optical working surface, the thickness of the optical member can be kept substantially constant. Therefore, the design of the optical surface constituting the second optical working surface must be changed to the first optical surface. For example, a flat surface or a substantially flat surface can be used as a reference without using a curved surface configuration corresponding to the curved surface of the working surface. This has an effect that a strobe device having an optical member that hardly causes a problem such as generation of an impossible distortion or the like and does not particularly require complicated mold processing can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic external perspective view showing an embodiment of a strobe device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of an optical member indicated by reference numeral 5 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic external perspective view showing another embodiment of a strobe device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic external perspective view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of an optical member indicated by reference numeral 5A in FIGS. 3 and 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Shoe part 3 Main part 4 Light emitting part 5 Optical member 5A Optical member 5Aa Optical working part 5Ab Holding working part 6 First optical working surface 7 Second optical working surface 8 Step structure 9 Separate optical member 10 Light emitting window 11 Stop recess 12 Stop recess 13 Stop protrusion

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A light-emitting portion including at least a rod-shaped light source and a reflector is disposed in front of the reflector to emit light directly from the rod-shaped light source or reflected by the reflector to an object. A strobe device including an optical member for controlling an irradiation angle of light to be irradiated, wherein the optical member includes a first optical action surface having a curved surface continuous with at least a surface facing the subject, and A second surface divided into a plurality of regions via a wall surface provided in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped light source so that a surface on a side not opposed to the first optical action surface is substantially equal in distance to the first optical operation surface. Strobe device with optical working surface. 2. The light-emitting section includes a light-emitting window portion made of another optical member for controlling an irradiation angle of light emitted from the light-emitting portion to a subject, and the optical member is an auxiliary member that can be attached to and detached from the light-emitting window portion. The strobe device according to claim 1, formed as a member. 3. The strobe device according to claim 1, wherein the second optical action surface is formed by an optical surface which is formed by dividing a continuous curved surface into a large number through a plane and connecting them. 4. The strobe device according to claim 1, wherein the second optical working surface is formed by an optical surface having a series of quadrangular pyramids. 5. An optical member having a shape covering the light-emitting window and being disposed in front of the light-emitting window so as to control an emission direction of light incident from the light-emitting window and emit the light to the outside. And at least one first part formed integrally with the optical part and extending from the longitudinal end of the rod-shaped light source in the direction of the light-emitting window and constituting part of the first mounting means or the second mounting means. Formed with a substantially U-shaped cross section with a pair of holding action portions provided with a holding configuration,
The main body of the strobe device is formed to have a second holding structure that constitutes the first mounting means or the second mounting means by being combined with the first holding structure.
The strobe device according to item 1. 6. A first holding structure is a pair of locking projections provided on opposing surfaces of a pair of holding portions, and a second holding structure is provided on a housing constituting an outer wall of a main body of the strobe device. ,
The flash device according to claim 5, wherein the pair of locking recesses form a first mounted state or a second mounted state by being fitted with the pair of locking projections.