JPS62245234A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely prevent turning-off of a power source from being forgotten to prevent unnecessary consumption of a battery by providing a timer which turns off a switching circuit after a prescribed time and a detecting means which detects holding of a camera and setting of a tripod to reset the timer. CONSTITUTION:Since a grip part 2a is held by a hand when a camera is used, it is discriminated in accordance with intervals of the holding operation whether the camera is in the photographing preparation state or turning-off of the power source is forgotten. When a hold detecting switch 14 is turned on, a voltage generated at a connection point P between resistances 28 and 29 is inputted as a reset signal to a counter 27 to stop the counting operation of the counter 27. When the tripod is used to photograph, the hold detecting switch 14 is turned off, and the counter 27 is reset. When a tripod detecting switch 30 is turned off and a prescribed time elapses after the last reset, an output terminal D of the counter 27 goes to the high level, and an unuse signal is inputted to a control circuit 33.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention detects the state of non-use and automatically turns off the power.
This is related to the camera used in the camera.

[Conventional technology]

Modern cameras have automatic winding mechanisms, automatic focus adjustment mechanisms,
Equipped with an automatic exposure control mechanism, low-brightness automatic flash flash, etc., the automation of camera operation has progressed considerably.

For this reason, batteries are indispensable in cameras, and when the main switch is turned on, power is supplied to each of the above-mentioned mechanisms.

This main switch needs to be turned off when shooting is complete, but many people forget to do this, in which case each mechanism remains powered.
The battery will be wasted. In particular, in low-brightness automatic strobes, the capacitor is always recharged to keep it at a constant voltage, so if the main switch is left ON, the battery will consume a lot of power.

To prevent forgetting to turn off the main switch mentioned above,
The main switch is linked to the lens barrier, and the main switch is turned off when the lens barrier is closed after shooting.
There are cameras known for this purpose.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Even if the main switch described above is linked to the lens barrier, if you forget to close the lens barrier after taking a picture, the main switch will remain on, and the battery will be wasted.

The present invention is a camera that determines whether the camera is in a ready state (scheduled for use) or has forgotten to turn off the power, and automatically turns off the power if it is determined that the camera has forgotten to turn off the power. The purpose is to provide the following.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a switching circuit for turning on and off the power supply line that supplies power to each part of the camera, a timer that turns off the switching circuit after a predetermined period of time, and a timer that operates when the camera is held. hold detection means for resetting the timer when the timer is pressed;
A tripod detection means is provided for detecting attachment of a tripod and resetting the timer.

When the camera is in use, the camera is held by hand, so a hold detection signal is output from the hold detection means. Further, while the tripod is in use, a tripod detection signal is output from the tripod detection means. This hold detection signal or tripod detection signal is sent to the timer to reset it. Therefore, during preparation for shooting, the timer is reset at appropriate intervals, so the power line is kept on.

When the camera is not in use, both the hold detection means and the tripod detection means are in the OFF state, so the timer starts counting from the last reset. Then, when sufficient time has passed to determine that it is not in use,
The timer activates a switching circuit to automatically turn off the power line.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

〔Example〕

In FIG. 2 showing the external appearance of the camera, a collapsible lens barrel 3 is attached to the front of a camera body 2, and this lens barrel 3 is stored within the camera body 2 when not in use. Lens barriers 4 and 5, which are opened and closed when the camera is used, are provided on the front surface of the lens barrel 3. Further, a strobe 6 that flashes up when the camera is used is provided on the upper left side of the camera body 2.

A grip portion 2a is integrally formed on the right end of the camera body 2, and a finger rest plate 7 is attached to this grip portion 2a. Also, on the top of the camera body 2, there is an O
A main switch 8 that slides between an N position and an OFF position and a release button 9 are provided.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the hold detection means. The finger rest plate 7 is rotatably attached to the shaft 1) and is normally biased by a spring 12 so as to protrude from the notch 13 of the camera body 2.

When the camera body 2 is held during shooting, the right finger hits the finger rest plate 7, which causes the finger rest to rotate clockwise and turn on the hold detection switch 14. When the camera is not in use, for example, when the camera is carried in a suspended state via the hand strap 15, or when it is left on a table, etc., the finger rest plate 7 is separated from the hold detection switch 14. From, hold detection switch 1
4 is OFF.

FIG. 1 shows a circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. The main switch 8 includes an ON contact 8a + an OFF contact 8b, and a movable contact piece 8C.

A timer circuit composed of a resistor 18 and a capacitor 19 is connected to the movable contact piece 8C, and even when the main switch 8 is switched to the OFF contact Bb side and is in the OFF state, the transistor 2 is kept in the ON state. This means that when the main switch 8 is set to the OFF state, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,
This is to keep the power line L in the ON state for a sufficient period of time to lower the strobe 6 to the storage position, close the lens barrier 4.degree. 5, and store the lens barrel 3 in the camera body 2.

When the capacitor 19 is charged to a predetermined potential, the transistor 20 connected in series with the battery 21 is turned on, so that the switching circuit 22 is supplied with power. This switching circuit 22 is made up of transistors, etc., and is normally in an ON state, supplying electricity from the battery 21 to the power supply line L, but while a non-use signal is input from the delay circuit 23. is in the OFF state and does not supply electricity to the power line L.

The oscillator 25 generates a pulse with a constant period, and inputs it to the clock terminal C of the counter 27 via the AND circuit 26. The oscillator 25 and counter 27 constitute a timer circuit, and when a certain number of pulses have been counted, that is, when a certain period of time has passed since the last reset,
It is determined that the main switch 8 has been left in the ON position.

When using the camera, the grip portion 2a is held by hand, so it can be determined from the interval between these holding operations whether the camera is ready for photographing or whether the user has forgotten to turn off the power. Therefore, when the hold detection switch 14 is turned on, the voltage generated at the connection point P between the resistors 28 and 29 is input to the counter 27 as a reset signal, and the counting operation of the counter 27 is stopped.

When photographing using a tripod, the camera is rarely held, so the hold detection switch 14 is turned off. This tripod is removed when photographing is completed, so if the tripod remains attached, it can be considered that the camera is ready for photographing. Therefore, the tripod detection switch 30 is connected in parallel with the hold detection switch 14, and the counter 27 is reset when the tripod is used.

When the counter 27 counts a predetermined number of pulses, its output terminal becomes "H".

This output signal is sent to the delay circuit 23, and after a predetermined time, the switching circuit 22 is turned off, and the power line L
Stops power supply. Further, an inverter 31 is provided to close the AND circuit 26 and stop the counting operation of the counter 27.

When the switching circuit 22 is in the ON state, electricity from the battery 21 is sent to the control circuit 33 and the like via the power line L. This control circuit 33 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and sequentially controls each part according to a predetermined program.

The control circuit 33 also includes a shutter 34 . Motor 35.
36. Strobe 6 is connected. The motor 35 is housed, for example, in a winding Lisbourg, and drives the film feeding mechanism 37 to wind and rewind the film. As is well known, this film feeding mechanism 37 charges the shank 34 when winding the film. motor 3
6 is a strobe pop-up mechanism 38. Collapsing mechanism 39.
Each lens barrier opening/closing mechanism 40 is driven. The strobe pop-up mechanism 38 moves the strobe 6 between a pop-up position where it protrudes from the camera body 2 and a storage position where it is stored in the camera body 2. Collapse mechanism 39
The lens barrel 3 is displaced between a position where it protrudes from the camera body 2 and a position where it is housed within the camera body 2. The lens barrier opening/closing mechanism 40 is provided inside the lens barrel 3, and the lens barrier 4 disposed in front of the lens.
．． Controls the opening and closing of 5. The strobe 6 is of a low-intensity automatic flash type and automatically fires when the subject is dark.

It also detects the capacitor voltage and automatically recharges the capacitor if it drops to a predetermined voltage.

When the main switch 8 is set to the ON position, that is, when the movable contact piece 8c is connected to the ON contact 8a side, the one-shot multi-by-break 41 outputs a pulse. When this pulse is input to the control circuit 33,
At the timing of the fall of the pulse, the motor 36 is rotated to displace the strobe 6 to the pop-up position, the lens barrel 3 to protrude from the camera body 2, and the lens barriers 4 and 5 to the open position to take pictures. Automatically set to ready state. Furthermore, when the power is turned off, a signal is input to the control circuit 33 via the OR circuit 42, so
The motor 36 automatically reverses, retracting the lens barrel 3, returning the strobe 6 to the retracted position, and returning the lens barriers 4, 5 to the closed position. The strobe pop-up mechanism 38 and the lens barrier opening/closing mechanism 40 are manually set to the operating state and locked in this state, and when the power is turned off, the electromagnet is temporarily energized to release the lock and release the spring. With the stored power, strobe 6, lens barrel 3. The lens barriers 4, 5 may be returned to their unused positions. Furthermore, a strobe pump up mechanism 38. Collapsing mechanism 39. The lens barrier opening/closing mechanism 40 may be driven by a dedicated motor.

The release switch 43 inputs a release signal to the control circuit 33 via ONL when the release button 9 is pressed.

Figure 4 shows the lens barrier opening/closing mechanism and strobe volume 7.
This shows the block mechanism. The lens barrier opening/closing mechanism 40 includes two lens barriers 4.5 that move in opposite directions.
is provided inside the lens barrel 3. Racks 4a and 5a are formed on the lens barrier 4.5, respectively, and these racks 4a and 5a mesh with both sides of the pinion 45.

The lens barriers 4 and 5 have elongated holes 4b and 5b provided on the upper and lower sides thereof, respectively, and are loosely fitted into the fixed pins 46 and 47, so when the pinion 45 is rotated by the motor 36, the lens barriers 4 and 5 move linearly and move the lens 48. Open and close.

The apron 50 of the strobe 6 has a pair of elongated holes 50a,
A rack 50b is provided, and when the pinion 51 is rotated by the motor 36, it moves up and down guided by a fixing pin 52 that loosely fits into the pair of elongated holes 50a. In the photographing preparation state, the strobe 6 protrudes from the camera body 2, and is stored within the camera body 2 when the camera is not in use.

A 3-meter mounting section 53 is provided at the bottom of the camera body 2, and a tripod is attached when performing ecological photography of animals and plants, self-photography, etc.

FIG. 5 shows the collapsing mechanism. A pair of pins 55 are installed in the lens barrel 3, and these pins 55
are loosely fitted into the straight grooves 56, respectively. Further, a rack plate 57 is fixed to the lens barrel 3, and a pinion 58 meshes with a rack 57a formed on the rack plate 57. When the motor 36 rotates, the lens barrel 3 is guided by the straight groove 56 and moves between the retracted position shown by the solid line and the protruded position shown by the dotted line.

In FIGS. 6 and 71J, the tripod attachment portion 53 is comprised of a screw hole 62 attached to the bottom of the camera body 2. A tripod detection member 64 that is biased downward by a spring 63 is attached to the back of this screw hole 62. be screwed on. When the tripod screw 66 is screwed on, the tripod detection member 64 is pushed upward and the tripod detection switch 30 is turned on. In addition, code 6
6a is a knob for turning the tripod screw 66.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. When using the camera, first set the main switch 8 to the ON position. When the movable contact piece 8C of this main switch 8 is connected to the ON contact 8a, the capacitor 1
9 charging is started. Then, when the time T1 has elapsed, the capacitor 19 reaches a predetermined voltage, so the transistor 20 is turned on. When this transistor 20 is turned on, the switching circuit 22 is turned on, so that the switching circuit 22 is connected to the control circuit 33, shutter 34, motor 35, 36, etc. via the power supply line L. Power is supplied to the strobe 6.

When the main switch 8 is turned on, the oscillator 25 is activated, and the pulses output from it are sent to the AND circuit 26.
It is sent to the counter 27 via the counter 27, where it is counted. Furthermore, when the main switch 8 is turned on, the one-sit multi-vibration break 41 is activated and outputs a pulse with a width longer than the time sufficient for the power supply voltage of the control circuit 33 to stabilize.

When this pulse is input to the control circuit 33 as a start-of-use signal, the control circuit 33 drives the motor 36. When the motor 36 is driven, the pinion 51 rotates counterclockwise, causing the strobe 6 to pop up from the camera body 2 as shown by the solid line in FIG. Further, since the pinion 58 is rotated clockwise by the motor 36, the lens barrel 3 protrudes from the camera body 2 and is set at the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. Furthermore, the motor 36 has a pinion 45
In order to rotate the lens counterclockwise, a pair of lens barriers 4
．． 5 linearly move away from each other to expose the lens 48. Furthermore, charging of the strobe 6 is automatically started.

The camera body 2 is firmly held with both hands during photography. At this time, since the right hand holds the grip portion 2a, the plate 7 of the finger rest is pressed by the fingers. When the plate 7 is pressed, this finger rest rotates clockwise about the shaft 1) against the spring 12, and the hold detection switch 14 is turned on. When the hold detection switch 14 is turned on, the counter 27 is reset and stops counting pulses from the oscillator 25.

To attach the tripod, attach the tripod 65 to the part 53, and use the tripod screw 6.
6 pushes up the tripod detection member 64, so the tripod switch 30 is turned on. This tripod detection switch 30 is ON
Then, the tripod detection signal is sent to the reset terminal R of the counter 27.
, the counter 27 is reset.

When the camera is pointed at the subject and the release button 9 is pressed, the release switch 43 is turned on and a release signal is sent to the control circuit 33. .

The control circuit 33 operates the shutter 34 to take a photograph, and immediately thereafter rotates the motor 35 to operate the film feeding mechanism 37. This film feeding mechanism 37 winds the film by one frame, and the shutter 34
Charge. Note that when the subject has low brightness, the strobe 6 automatically emits light.

Generally, when a camera is used, the camera body 2 is held, so the hold detection switch 14 is turned on, and when a tripod is used, the tripod detection switch 30 is turned on. Therefore, while the camera is in use, the counter 27 is reset as appropriate, so it does not count up to a predetermined value. The count-up time of this counter 27 is set to be somewhat longer than the average photographing interval, and in practical terms is set to about 10 minutes.

Generally, when the ↑most shadow is canceled, the camera is not held, so the hold detection switch 14 is turned OFF.
It is in F state. Further, when photographing using the tripod 65 is completed, the tripod 65 is removed, so the tripod detection switch 30 is turned off. Therefore, if you forget to turn off the main switch 8 and leave the camera unattended, the counter 27 continues counting. Then, when a predetermined time T2 has elapsed since the last reset, the counter 27
The output terminal of is rHJ. This output terminal is rHJ
When this happens, the AND circuit 26 is closed and the counting operation is stopped.

When the output terminal of the counter 27 becomes rHJ, OR
An unused signal is input to the control circuit 33 via the circuit 42 . This control circuit 33 reverses the motor 36 to return the strobe 6 and lens barrel 3 to the storage position, and returns the lens barriers 4 and 5 to shield the lens 48. As a result, each mechanism of the camera is placed in an unused state.

The delay circuit 23 delays the non-use signal by the time T3 required to set the camera in the non-use state, and sends this to the switching circuit 22. This switching circuit 22
The signal from the delay circuit 23 turns off, for example, a transistor (not shown) connected to the power supply line L. As a result, each electric circuit connected to the power line L is turned off.
It becomes F.

After using the camera, when the main switch 8 is returned to the OFF position, the movable contact piece 8c comes into contact with the OFF contact 8b. As a result, a non-use signal is output from the OR circuit 42, and the motor 36 rotates as described above, returning each mechanism to the non-use state. Further, when the main switch 8 is turned OFF, the capacitor 19 starts discharging, and after each mechanism is set to a non-use state, the transistor 20 is turned OFF.
F. When this transistor 20 is turned off, power supply to all circuits is stopped.

If you want to use the camera again with the power turned off automatically, return the main switch 8 to the /uOFF position. When the main switch 8 is returned to the OFF position, the counter 27. Since the delay circuit 23 and the like are reset, the output terminal of the counter 27 becomes rLJ. Then, when the main switch 8 is returned to the ON position, each circuit is energized as described above, and each mechanism is set to the operating state.

9 and 10 show another embodiment of the hold detection means. Behind camera body 2, back 1 [16
is attached so that it can be opened and closed freely.

This back cover 16 has a recess 16a formed therein for firmly holding the camera, and a touch sensor 17 is attached within this recess 16a. This touch sensor 1
7 is O if the thumb of the right hand touches the camera while holding it.
NL, the counter 27 is reset.

As the hold detection means, it is possible to use various types of sensors such as rubber switches, pressure sensors, etc., and these sensors are installed at positions where the camera can be touched when the camera is held. Furthermore, it is also possible to use a photo sensor or the like as the tripod detection means.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained in detail above, according to the present invention, if the camera is not held even once within a certain period of time, or if a certain period of time has elapsed since the tripod was removed, it is possible to forget to turn off the power. Since the power is automatically turned off based on this determination, it is possible to reliably prevent forgetting to turn off the power, thereby eliminating wasteful battery consumption.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the camera. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of essential parts showing an example of the hold detection means. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a lens barrier mechanism and a strobe pop-up mechanism. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the collapsing mechanism. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the tripod mounting section. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the tripod mounting section showing the state in which the tripod is attached. FIG. 8 is a timing chart of the circuit shown in FIG. 1, and shows a state in which the power is automatically turned off. FIG. 9 is a rear view of a camera provided with another hold detection means. FIG. 1O is a partial sectional view of the back cover showing the state in which the holding means of FIG. 9 is installed. 2...Camera body 3...Lens barrel 4.5...Lens barrier 6...Strobe 7...Finger rest is plate 8...Main switch 14...Hold detection Switch 16...Back cover 17...Touch sensor 30...Tripod detection switch 35.36...Motor 48...Lens 53...Tripod mounting part 65...Tripod L...Power line . ζsaiku U) Taste

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Turn on and off the power lines that supply power to each part of the camera
a switching circuit for turning the camera off, a timer for turning off the switching circuit after a predetermined time has elapsed, a hold detection means that is activated when the camera is held and resets the timer, and a tripod that detects that the camera is mounted on a tripod and resets the timer. A camera characterized by being provided with a detection means. (2) The camera according to claim 1, wherein the timer comprises an oscillator that generates pulses with a constant period and a counter that counts the pulses.