JPH11344752A - Caseless camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a caseless camera excellent in the protection of camera components at a carrying time and excellent in design without needing the unnecessary joint part of a cover member constituting the outer shell of the camera. SOLUTION: This camera is provided with the outer shell composed of a square cylindrical central cover 10 whose both ends are open, a fixed cover 20 formed into the shape of a blind square cylinder whose one end is open and another end is closed and fixed relatively immovably to/from the central cover 10 and a movable cover 30 formed into the shape of the blind square cylinder whose one end is open and another end is closed, and which is provided with a peripheral wall for covering all the periphery of the central cover from the outside and externally fitted to the central cover 10 slidably. The movable cover 30 slides between a nonphotographing position where the opening ends of the cover 30 and the fixed cover are abutted on each other to cover the full surface of the central cover and a photographing position where the opening end of the cover 30 is located in the vicinity of the second opening end of the central cover to expose the whole surface of the central cover substantially.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a compact camera, and more particularly, to a caseless camera in which elements such as a photographing lens on a camera body are protected by a barrier mechanism, and a separate protective case is not required.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Compact cameras having excellent portability are widely used by beginner users because they can be easily carried anywhere. In order to make the most of the easy-to-carry property, instead of storing the camera in a case to protect the taking lens etc. when not taking a picture, a camera that uses a sliding barrier mechanism to protect the taking lens etc. Many have been proposed.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example of such a conventional camera. FIG. 1 shows a non-shooting state of the camera, in which the slide-type barrier mechanism 100 is in a closed state to protect elements such as a shooting lens and an AF window. FIG. 2 shows a photographing state in which the barrier mechanism is opened, and shows a state in which the retractable photographing lens 104 is in a protruding position.

In the camera shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
During non-shooting, some elements disposed on the front side of the camera, such as the taking lens 104, the AF window 105, and the finder objective window 106, are protected by the barrier mechanism 100. Elements such as the viewfinder eyepiece (not shown) 107 remain exposed even when the barrier mechanism 100 is closed, and the protection of this part is insufficient.

Further, the outer shell of the camera shown in FIG. 1 is basically composed of two covers 101 and 102 on the front and rear sides, and a joint 103 between the two covers appears on the entire outer peripheral surface of the camera. . The joint 103 is not necessary for the mechanism of the camera and is merely a connecting portion between members. Therefore, it is preferable in terms of appearance that the joint 103 is not provided. Moreover, in order to make the step at such a joint less noticeable, to prevent light from entering the joint, and to maintain the light-shielding property, a high dimensional accuracy is required for the cover member. This leads to an increase in manufacturing cost.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show another conventional camera called a full capsule type. FIG. 3 is a perspective view in a photographing state, and FIG. 4 is a non-photographing sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. The state is shown.

[0007] The outer shell of this camera is a camera internal structure 200.
The main components are an inner cover 202 that covers the inner cover 202, a fixed cover 201 that is immovably fixed to the left end of the inner cover 202 in the drawing, and a movable cover 203 that is slidably fitted over the inner cover 202. As can be imagined from FIG. 3, when the movable cover 203 slides to a position where it comes into contact with the fixed cover 201, the release button 204 and the taking lens 205 are protected by the movable cover. The finder eyepiece window 207 is still exposed, and the protection of this part is insufficient.

Further, in the camera shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, both the inner cover 202 and the movable cover 203
It is composed of a bottomed square tubular member. That is, both covers 202 and 203 are tubular members having a rectangular cross section, and one end surface of the tubular member is open, but the other end surface is closed by side walls 202a and 203a, respectively. Therefore, this camera has a double wall structure not only on the front, the back, the top and the bottom, but also on the side.

The cameras shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are also called full capsule type cameras. 5 and 6 show front views of the camera in the non-shooting state and the shooting state, respectively. The outer shell of this camera is composed of an inner cover 302 and a fixed cover 301 which is fixed to the right end of the inner cover 302 in the drawing.
And a movable cover 303 which is slidably fitted on the inner cover 302 as main components. In FIG. 6, the photographing lens 306 and the AF window 307 exposed on the inner cover 302,
Elements such as the flash 308 are protected by the movable cover 303 in the non-shooting state in FIG. However, the finder window 304 arranged on the fixed cover 301 is still exposed even in the non-photographing state in FIG. 5, and the protection is not sufficient.

Further, in this camera, the inner cover is also provided.
5 is a double-walled structure with the movable cover 303 closed when the movable cover 303 is closed. In this camera, since the cartridge cover 309 is always located on the inner cover 302 at a position covered by the movable cover, it is necessary to remove the movable cover 303 every time the cartridge is replaced, which is extremely inconvenient. is there.

[0011]

Accordingly, a technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an excellent protection of camera components when carrying the camera, and an unnecessary joint portion of a cover member constituting a camera outer shell. It is to provide a caseless camera with excellent design characteristics.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to effectively solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a caseless camera having the following features.

That is, the caseless camera of the present invention is
The outer shell portion is a “square tubular center cover with both ends open” and a “bottomed square tube with one end open and the other end closed, the open end of which is outside the first open end of the center cover. A fixed cover fixed to the central cover so as not to be movable relative to the central cover by fitting, and a square with a bottom provided with a peripheral wall covering one peripheral surface from the outside while one end is open and the other end is closed. A movable cover that is cylindrical and is slidably fitted to the center cover. The movable cover includes a “non-photographing position where the opening end and the opening end of the fixed cover come into contact with each other to cover the entire surface of the center cover” and “the opening end is located near the second opening end of the center cover and Between the shooting position where substantially the entire surface of the cover is exposed.

In the camera of the present invention having the above-described structure, the joint portion of the cover member that appears on the camera surface is only a portion where the open end of the movable cover and the open end of the fixed cover abut during the non-shooting state. Here, the fact that the movable cover that protects the camera element in the non-shooting state slides during shooting is an essential mechanism for a caseless camera. That is, in the camera of the present invention, there is no mere inter-member connecting portion that is unnecessary in the camera mechanism, such as the joining portion 103 in the conventional camera of FIGS. 1 and 2. As described above, the camera of the present invention in which the meaningless joint portion of the cover member does not appear on the camera surface provides a simple appearance as compared with the conventional camera, and is excellent in terms of design.

In the camera of the present invention, the joints appearing on the surface are mechanically significant movable parts. Therefore, it is also useful to intentionally provide a step in this part, and therefore, the dimensional accuracy of the parts is improved. Is alleviated. As a result, there is also an effect that an increase in manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

Furthermore, in the camera of the present invention, both ends of the central cover existing inside the movable cover are open (that is, there are no walls closing both end surfaces of the central cover), and only the movable cover is provided. One end is closed.
Therefore, when the camera is in the non-photographing state, the camera side wall corresponding to the closed end of the movable cover is not shown in FIG.
Since the cover member does not have a double wall structure as in the case of the conventional cameras shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, it is advantageous in terms of reducing the size and weight of the camera.

In the camera of the present invention, a photographing optical system,
At least one of finder optical system, display LCD window, AF window, AE window, flash panel, and release button
Preferably, two camera elements are arranged exposed on said central cover surface. As described above, the entire surface of the center cover is covered with the movable cover in the non-shooting state. Therefore, the camera element arranged on the surface of the center cover is protected by the movable cover in the non-shooting state. In other words, camera elements that need protection
(For example, shooting optical system, finder optical system, display LCD
Windows, AF windows, AE windows, flash panels, release buttons, etc.) on the center cover (ratio)
The more the number of camera components, the better the protection of camera components.

In the camera according to the present invention, it is preferable that the center cover is formed in a rectangular tube shape by bending a metal plate member. When a metal material is adopted as a cover member to improve the camera's appearance quality, a square tubular center cover with both ends open can be easily formed by bending, and a closed bottom with one side closed It is possible to manufacture at a relatively low cost as compared with deep drawing when the tubular member is used as the center cover.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 7 and 8 show perspective views of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention in a non-photographing state and a photographing state, respectively. 7 (a) and 8
7A shows the front side of the camera, and FIGS. 7B and 8B show the rear side of the camera. The outer shell of the camera includes a center cover 10, a fixed cover 20, and a movable cover 30, as shown in FIG.

The center cover 10 has a rectangular cylindrical shape with both ends 15 and 16 opened, and includes a top wall 11, a front wall 12, a bottom wall 13, and a rear wall 14. The walls 11 to 14 are connected by a smooth curved surface. The front wall 12 has a substantially square opening 10b and an elongated opening 10a located above the opening 10b.
The opening 10b has an AF window for disposing the lens barrel 50.
These are provided for disposing the 53 and the finder objective window 54, respectively. On the rear wall 14 of the center cover 10,
A rectangular opening 10d and three circular openings 10e located below the rectangular opening 10d are formed. The opening 10d is provided for arranging the LCD display unit 61, and the opening 10e is provided for arranging various operation buttons. Although not shown in FIG. 9, an opening 10f (see FIG. 11) for disposing the finder eyepiece window 62 is also provided above the opening 10d. Further, a battery cover 17 is provided on the bottom wall 13 of the center cover 10.
An opening 10c for arranging (see FIG. 10) is provided.

The fixed cover 20 has a bottom wall 23 as shown in FIG.
The cartridge lid 27 is provided, and when the cartridge lid 27 is attached, it becomes a square cylinder with a bottom. That is, the fixed cover 20 includes the top wall 21, the front wall 22, and the bottom wall.
23 (including the cartridge lid), a peripheral wall composed of a rear wall 24, and a side wall 25 closing one end of the peripheral wall, and only an end 26 located on the near side in FIG. Is open. The walls 21 to 25 are connected by a smooth curved surface.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the camera with the movable cover 30 opened from the bottom side. In the illustrated camera, the fixed cover 20 which is always exposed to the outside of the camera
The cartridge lid 27 is hinged to the bottom wall 23 of the cartridge. Therefore, the troublesome operation of removing the movable cover every time the cartridge is replaced as in the case of the conventional camera shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is not required.

The fixed cover 20 is fixed to the central cover 10 so that it cannot move relative to the central cover 10 by fitting its open end 26 to one open end 15 of the central cover 10. The top wall 21 of the fixed cover 20 has an opening 20a for disposing the release button 55, and the bottom wall 23 has an opening 20b for disposing the cartridge lid 27.

The movable cover 30 is also a square cylinder with a bottom, and includes a peripheral wall composed of a top wall 31, a front wall 32, a bottom wall 33 and a rear wall 34, and a side wall 35 for closing one end of the peripheral wall. The surface facing the side wall 35 is open. Each wall 31-35
Are connected by a smooth curved surface. On the front wall 32, a rectangular opening 30a for arranging the flash panel 56 is formed.

The peripheral wall formed by the walls 31 to 34 of the movable cover 30 is externally fitted so as to cover the entire periphery of the central cover 10 from the outside, and is slidable on the central cover 10. Although each cover member is shown in an exploded state in FIG. 9, in the final product stage, the movable cover 30 is brought into contact with the open end 36 of the fixed cover 20 and the open end 26 of the fixed cover 20 to form the central cover 10. Between a non-photographing position that covers the entire surface (see FIG. 7) and a photographing position (see FIG. 8) in which the opening end 36 is located near the opening end 16 of the central cover to expose substantially the entire surface of the central cover 20. Appropriate guide means (not shown) are provided so as to be slidable.

When the movable cover 30 is slid from the non-photographing state to the photographing state, a main switch (not shown) which operates in conjunction with this is turned on, and the lens barrel unit is extended to the photographing position. Since the main switch is linked to the movable cover, there is no inconvenience that the lens barrel unit is unintentionally turned on when the camera is carried and the lens barrel unit is extended.

Since the movable cover 30 covers the entire central cover at the time of non-shooting, the camera element arranged on the central cover 10 is not moved when the movable cover 30 is closed, such as when carrying the camera. Protected from mechanical shock. In the illustrated example, camera elements other than the release button 55 and the flash panel 56 (photographing lens 51, AF window 53, finder objective window 54, finder eyepiece window 62, LCD display section 61, various operation buttons 60, AE window 52) Are arranged on the center cover 10. It is of course possible to arrange the release button and the flash panel on the center cover 10 by changing the size of each cover member or the like.

As best seen in FIG. 9, the center cover 10 is open at both ends while the movable cover 30 is open.
Is closed at one end by a side wall 35. Therefore, in the camera after being completed as a product, when the movable cover 30 is closed to be in a non-shooting state, the side of the camera corresponding to the side wall 35 does not have a double wall structure, but has a single wall.
(That is, the side wall 35). Therefore, there is no disadvantage that the camera side wall has a double wall structure as in the case of the conventional camera shown in FIGS.

Further, in the illustrated example, since the release button is arranged on the fixed cover 20 which is gripped at the time of photographing, there is an advantage that the holdability at the time of photographing is improved and hand shake during photographing is less likely to occur. .

FIG. 11 shows a processing step when the center cover 10 is made of a metal plate member. In order to improve the appearance quality of the camera, a metal material is often employed as a cover member. In such a case, since the center cover of the present invention is a rectangular tube-shaped member having both ends opened, the center cover is bent. It can be easily formed.

FIGS. 11 (a), 11 (b) and 11 (c) show the processing steps of the center cover in order. The center cover 10 of FIG. 11 (c) is the same as the center cover 10 shown in FIG. Showing things. In this case, the opening 10c formed in the bottom wall 13 of the center cover 10
It can be seen that is formed by connecting the upper and lower concave portions 10c 'of the metal plate 10' shown in FIG.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show another example of a camera according to the present invention. FIG.
Indicates a shooting state. Fig. 7
11 is different from the camera shown in FIG. 11 in that the flash is always exposed on the front wall 32 of the movable cover 30 (see FIG. 7).
(See (a) and FIG. 8 (a)), but the point that a pop-up flash 56 ′ is provided on the top wall 31 of the movable cover 30. Accordingly, a part of the top wall 31 is formed as a movable wall 31 '.

In each of the cameras according to the present invention described above, the joint between the cover members exposed to the outside of the camera even in the non-shooting state is formed by the open end 26 of the fixed cover 20 and the open end of the movable cover 30. 36, the peripheral edge 71 of the cartridge lid 27 provided on the bottom wall 23 of the fixed cover 20, and the movable wall 31 'when a pop-up flash is used.
Is only the peripheral portion 72 of FIG. These joints between the members are only movable parts necessary for the mechanism of the camera, and are merely connection parts between the members that are not necessary for the mechanism of the camera, such as the joint 103 in the conventional camera of FIGS. There is no department. As described above, the camera of the present invention in which the meaningless joint portion of the cover member does not appear on the camera surface provides a simple appearance as compared with the conventional camera, and is excellent in terms of design.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional camera employing a barrier mechanism in a non-photographing state.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the camera of FIG. 1 in a shooting state.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional full capsule type camera in a shooting state.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view showing another conventional full capsule type camera in a non-photographing state.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the camera of FIG. 5 in a shooting state.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the camera according to the present invention in a non-photographing state.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the camera of FIG. 7 in a shooting state.

9 is an exploded view illustrating a configuration of a cover member forming an outer shell of the camera in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the camera of FIG. 7 from the bottom wall side.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view for explaining a processing step of the center cover shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing another example of the camera according to the present invention in a non-photographing state.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the camera of FIG. 12 in a shooting state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Central cover 10 'Metal plate 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 10f Opening 10c' Recess 11 Top wall 12 Front wall 13 Bottom wall 14 Rear wall 15, 16 Open end 17 Battery cover 20 Fixed cover 20a, 20b Opening 21 Top wall 22 Front wall 23 Bottom wall 24 Rear wall 25 Side wall 26 Open end 27 Cartridge lid 30 Movable cover 30a Open 31 Top wall 31 'Movable wall 32 Front wall 33 Bottom wall 34 Back wall 35 Side wall 36 Open end 50 Lens barrel 51 Photographing Lens 52 AE window 53 AF window 54 Viewfinder objective window 55 Release button 56 Flash panel 60 Operation buttons 61 LCD display section 62 Viewfinder eyepiece 100 Barrier mechanism 101 Front cover 102 Back cover 103 Joint 104 Shooting lens 105 AF window 106 Viewfinder objective window 107 LCD window 200 Camera internal structure 201 Fixed cover 202 Inner cover 202a Side wall 203 Movable cover 203a Side wall 204 Release button 205 Shooting lens 206 Viewfinder objective window 207 Viewfinder eyepiece window 301 Fixed cover 302 in the cover 303 movable cover 304 viewfinder window 306 taking lens 307 AF window 308 flash 309 Cartridge lid

Claims (3)

[Claims] A central cover having a rectangular cylindrical shape having both ends opened; a rectangular cylinder having a bottom having an open end and a closed end having an open end fitted to a first open end of the central cover; A fixed cover fixed to the central cover so as not to be able to move relative to the central cover, and a bottomed rectangular tube having a peripheral wall that opens at one end and closes the other end and covers the entire peripheral surface of the central cover from the outside, A camera provided with an outer shell composed of a movable cover slidably fitted to a center cover, wherein the movable cover abuts an opening end of the movable cover on an opening end of a fixed cover. A camera that slides between a non-photographing position that covers the entire surface of the central cover and a photographing position where the opening end is located near the second opening end of the central cover to expose substantially the entire surface of the central cover. 2. A photographing optical system, a finder optical system, and a display L
The camera according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a CD window, an AF window, an AE window, a flash panel, and a release button is exposed on the surface of the center cover. 3. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the center cover is formed by bending a metal plate member into a rectangular tube shape.