JPS63165830A - Connector for connecting electric circuit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the reliability of connection between contacts by providing a connector for connecting between respective electric circuits of an auxiliary apparatus and an optical apparatus body with a contact having a cleaning function. CONSTITUTION:At the time of rotating an interchangeable lens (auxiliary apparatus) to mount the lens on a camera (optical apparatus body), a cleaning member 3a8 is allowed to slide on all lens side contact pins 10a1-10a7. Even if a foreign substance such as dust is attached to the pins 10a1-107, the foreign substance is cleaned out by the sliding of the member 3a8 at the time of mounting rotation. Especially, the lens side contact pin 10a7 on one side can be also cleaned out by the sliding through the operation is difficult in an ordinary method. Consequently, electric connection between the lens side contact pins 10a1-10a7 and cameraside contact pins 3a1-3a7 can be surely attained at the time of completing the mounting of the lens.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is applicable to optical equipment such as interchangeable lens cameras.
The present invention relates to an electrical circuit connection connector that connects the electrical circuits of an optical device main body and an accessory device such as an interchangeable lens.

<Prior art> The mounts of the interchangeable lens and camera body are rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, and electric circuits are provided on the interchangeable lens side and the camera body side, respectively, for automatic exposure control. Various types of information, such as information and information for automatic focus adjustment, have come to be exchanged with each other, and it has become known that a large number of connector pins are provided near the mount for the purpose of exchanging signals.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the lock pin 2 for fixing the camera side bayonet mount when the lens side mount is attached and the contact seat 3 forming the camera side connector are fixed to the front of the camera body 4 of the camera A. The contact seat 3 has a plurality of (seven in the illustrated example) contact pins 3a, -3a.
The contact pins 3a consisting of 7 are connected to the contact springs 3b, .
The contact spring 3b consisting of b7 urges the contact pins 3aH to 3a7 to protrude at the same height over the entire surface of the contact seat 3.
is connected to an electrical device 6 on the camera body side by a flexible printed board 5. On the other hand, the interchangeable lens B holds a photographing lens group 7, and has a lens-side bayonet mount 8 on its rear end surface, an elongated lock groove 9 that engages with the lock pin 2 on the camera side, and a contact seat that constitutes a lens-side connector. I
A plurality of contacts (7 in the illustrated example) are fixedly installed in the contact seat lO.
A contact pin 10a consisting of contact pins 10a1 to 10a7
are fixed so that their rear ends lie on the same plane, and the contact pins 10aI to 10a7 are connected to the flexible printed board 1.
1 to the lens-side electric device 12.

There are three claws 1 on the inner circumference of the camera side bayonet mount l.
al~1a3, whereas the lens side bayonet mount 8 has molds 1a and 3 that engage with the molds 1a and 1a3, respectively.
The claws 8a to 8a3 are formed separately. When the mounting is completed, the lock pin 2 on the camera side engages with the lock groove 9 to maintain the mounted state.

When the interchangeable lens B is attached to the camera 8 with its respective bayonet mount, the mount surfaces of both lenses overlap each other as shown in FIG. 3, and the camera body side contact pin 3a makes contact with the lens side contact pin 10a. The springs 3b make contact with each other with appropriate contact pressure, and the contact pins 3a1 to 3a7 and the contact pins lOa1 to 1Oa7 are electrically connected, respectively, and the camera body side electric device 6 and the lens side electric device 12 are connected to each other. Becomes able to send and receive electrical signals.

Regarding the connection operation of both contact pins when the interchangeable lens B is attached, as shown in FIG. Contact pins 3a7 to 3al
are sequentially pressed by the end slope Job of the lens side contact seat 10, compressing the contact springs 3b7 to 3b, and the surface of the lens side contact seat lO and the lens side contact pins 10a, -10a.
When the device is completed, the contact pins 3al and 10al, 3a2 and 10a are alternately pressed and slid.
2, @-@-3a7 and 10a7 are in contact with each other on the same plane.

<Problems to be Solved by the Present Invention> However, in the conventional connection connector as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, each time the interchangeable lens B is rotated and attached to the camera A, the lens side contact pin 10a 1 first comes into sliding contact with the contact pin 3a7 on the camera side, and then contacts the camera side contact pin 3a6.
~3a The rotating mounting is completed by sliding contact with 1. Hereinafter, during rotational mounting, the lens side contact pin 10a2 comes into sliding contact with the camera side contact pins 3a7 to 3a2, and the lens side contact pin 10a2 comes into sliding contact with the camera side contact pins 3a7 to 3a2.
a3 is in sliding contact with the camera side contact pins 3a7 to 3a3, and...
...Lens side contact pin 10a6 is camera side contact pin 3
sliding contact with a7◆3a6, and lens side contact pin 10a
7 makes sliding contact only with the camera side contact pin 3a7.

The lens side contact pins loa 1 to 10a7 are fixed, and are disposed at the same height or recessed as the connection surface of the lens side contact seat 10, etc.
In the above-mentioned conventional connection connector, where foreign matter such as dirt and dust is likely to adhere to a high degree, the foreign matter that has adhered to the lens side contact pins lOa 1 to 10a7 is removed from the camera side contact pins 3a7 to 3al during the mounting rotation. is on the pin (
Cleaning is performed by sliding the surface (on the surface). Here, the lens side contact pins 10a to 10a6 and the camera side contact pins 3a7 to 3a slide from end to end (left and right ends in FIGS. 6 and 7) at least once. However, the lens side contact pin 10a
Only 7 is the camera side contact pin 3 when the rotation device is completed.
Since a7 slides only from one end (the right end in FIGS. 6 and 7) to approximately the center, reliable cleaning may not be performed and foreign matter may not be removed. In addition, each time the interchangeable lens B is attached to the camera A by rotation, the attached foreign object is removed from the lens side contact pin loa, -10a6 by the camera side contact pins 3a7 to 3a2. loa 7 and accumulates on the lens-side contact pin 10a7, and the lens-side contact pin 10a7 becomes increasingly contaminated with foreign matter, resulting in poor contact, etc. due to the presence of this foreign matter. ,
There was a problem in that normal operation of the camera and lens could not be guaranteed.

<Object of the Invention> The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is to connect an optical device main body, which achieves contact conduction between each contact pin of the two by rotational mounting, to an accessory device. An object of the present invention is to provide a connector for connecting an electric circuit that can improve contact reliability and prevent malfunctions.

Means for Achieving the Problems> The configuration of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object will be explained using FIGS. 1 and 2, which correspond to embodiments.

The embodiment of the present invention has electrical devices on the camera body side and the interchangeable lens side, and has a plurality of contact pins 3811 to 3an( camera side) and loa, ~1
In a camera with an interchangeable lens in which the 0an (lens side) is arranged at approximately the same diameter position with respect to the optical axis, the camera is placed in front of the lens side contact pin 3a n with which the camera side contact pins 10a1 to 1oan first come into contact. Side contact pin lOa
A cleaning member 3a n+1 for cleaning dirt, dust, etc. that has adhered to the contact surfaces of No. 1 to Loan is arranged at approximately the same diameter position as the contact pins.

Function> In Figures 1 and 2, the interchangeable lens side contact pins 10a1~
10a7 is fixed, camera side contact pin 3a H~3
a7 is movable as in the above-mentioned conventional example.

Then, the camera side contact pin 3a is placed on the camera side contact seat 3 side.
1 to 3a7 and lens side contact pins 10a, to 10a7
A cleaning member 3ag is movable to clean foreign matter such as dirt and dust attached to the lens side contact pin 10a1.
~10a It is characterized in that it is attached so that it can slide on all surfaces of 7.

When an interchangeable lens is rotatably attached to a camera using a bayonet mount mechanism, when the lens is rotated from the lens side 10a in the direction of arrow C in FIG. However, the cleaning member 3aB cleans foreign matter such as dust and dirt while sliding all of the contact pins 10a1 to 10a7 from end to end.
At the final stage of rotation, the lens side contact pin lOa, ~10a
7 are all electrically connected to the contact pins 3a1 to 3a7 on the camera side, and the mounting is completed as shown in FIG.

Further, when removing the interchangeable lens, turning it in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 performs the removal rotation. In this way, foreign matter such as dirt and dust adhering to the lens side contact pins 10a and ~10a7 is cleaned by the camera side cleaning member 3a8, thereby removing the camera side contact pins 3a and ~3a7 and the lens side contact pin 10a1. ~10a, can prevent poor contact with.

<Example> Hereinafter, a first example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 3.

A contact seat 3 constituting a camera body side connector is provided around the rotatable camera-side bayonet mount l of the camera body 4 on the front side of the camera shown in FIG. Camera side contact pin 3al at equal intervals along
, 3a2...3a7 are arranged, and the contact spring 3b
, 3b, 3b7, the contact seat 3
The contact pins 3a1 to 3a7 protrude from the front surface (upper surface in FIGS. 1 and 2) of the camera body side electrical device 6 and the power supply pattern (in FIGS. 1 and 2) of the flexible printed board 5. (not shown)
It is connected to a power supply battery (not shown) whose terminal is connected to.

On the other hand, lens-side contact seats 10 constituting an interchangeable lens-side connector are provided around the rotatable lens-side bayonet mount 8 of the interchangeable lens B, and the contact seats 10 are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. Lens side contact pin 1Oa1, 1Oa
2...10a7 is fixedly installed, and the lens side contact seat IO
The outer end surfaces of the contact pins 10a, , 10a7 form oblique surfaces 10b, 10b2, respectively, and when the interchangeable lens B is rotatably attached to the camera, the contact pins 3a1 to 3a7 on the camera A side are connected to the contact springs. The lens side contact pins 10a1 to 1oa7 are pressed against the urging force of the flexible printed board II.
It is connected to the lens side electric device 12 via.

Note that the configuration up to now is the same as that described in the conventional example, so detailed explanation is omitted.

The camera side contact pin 3a of the contact seat 3 to the camera (~
A cleaning member 3a6 has the same diameter and position as 3a7, and is movable in the optical axis direction in the circumferential direction in the direction in which it first comes into sliding contact with the lens-side electric contact pin IOa when the interchangeable lens B is mounted and rotated. It is set in. This cleaning member 3aa is biased by a spring member 3b8 in the same direction and at approximately the same protrusion height as the other camera-side contact pins 3a1 to 3a7.

With the above arrangement and configuration, the cleaning member 3aB slides on all the lens side contact pins 10a1 to 10a7 when the interchangeable lens B is rotated to be attached to the camera A, and when the attachment is completed, the cleaning member 3aB is shown in FIG. As such, it reaches a position near the slope 10b2 of the contact seat 10 on the lens side. Therefore, even if foreign matter such as dust adheres to the contact surfaces of the lens-side contact pins 1Oal to 1oa7, the foreign matter is removed by sliding during the above-mentioned mounting rotation.
(like a wiper), the lens-side contact pin 10a7 on one end side, which was previously impossible to clean, can also be cleaned by sliding.
1 to 10a 7 and camera side contact pin 3a, x3a7
Electrical contact can be ensured at the stage of completion of installation.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 8 and 9. This second embodiment is a further improvement of the first embodiment, and is particularly aimed at suppressing wear on the sliding contact pins.

8 and 9, the contact seat 3 on the camera A side is formed with a stepped surface consisting of a first surface 3C and a second surface 3C', while the contact seat 1O on the interchangeable lens B side also has a first surface 10c.
and a second surface I OC'. In addition, the amount of depression of the second surface 30' when viewed from the first surface 3C of the contact seat 3 as a base L%n, and the protrusion of the second surface 10c' when viewed from the first surface 10C of the contact seat 10 as a reference. The amount is approximately the same.

On the first surface 3C of the contact seat 3 on the camera A side, there are 2
Two camera-side contact pins 3al and 3a2 are arranged, while the remaining camera-side contact pins 3a3 to 3a2 are arranged on the second surface 3C'.
3a7 is arranged. Further, the contact pin 3a1 is provided on the first surface 10C of the contact seat 10 on the side of the interchangeable lens B.
, 3a2 and the corresponding two lens side contact pins 10a)
, 10a 2 are arranged, while the second one 10C'
The remaining lens side contact pins 10a3 to 10a7 corresponding to the above contact pins 3a2 to 3a7 are arranged. Here, the camera side contact pins 3al to 3a7 are contact springs 3b as in the first embodiment described above.

3b7, it is urged in the optical axis direction and is normally held in the protruding position, and can be retracted when pressed thermally. Also, the lens side contact pins loa 1 to 10a7 are contact seats IO
is fixedly installed. However, these contact pins 3a
As shown in FIG. 8, when the conversion lens B is rotatably attached to the camera A, the constant protrusion amount of the contacts 1 to 3a7 is determined by the amount of the camera side contact pin 3a3 disposed on the second surface 3C' of the contact seat 3.
The tip of ~3a7 is the first surface 10 of the contact seat lO on the lens side.
Lens side contact pins 10a, , 1 arranged at C
It is set so that there is no contact with 0a2.

On the other hand, a first cleaning member 3ag is provided on the first surface 3C of the contact seat 3 on the camera side, and second cleaning members 3a and 3o are provided on the second surface 3C'.

This first cleaning member 3a9 is the camera side contact pin 3.
a, 3a2, and is provided at a position in the circumferential direction that first slides with the lens side contact pin 10a1 when the interchangeable lens B is rotatably mounted, and is retractably protruded in the optical axis direction by a spring member 3b9. energized. Also, the second
Cleaning member 3a, (, is the camera side electrical contact pin 3
The spring member 3b is provided at a circumferential position that is the same diameter as a3 to 3a7 and first slides on the lens side contact pins 1Oa3 to 1oa7 when the interchangeable lens B is rotatably mounted. It is urged to protrude in the direction of the optical axis so as to be retractable. Note that the always protruding height of the first cleaning member 3ag is set to be approximately the same height as the camera side contact pins 3al, 3a2, and the always protruding height of the above second cleaning member 3a, . It is set at almost the same height as 3a3 to 3a7.

To explain the operation of the second embodiment configured as described above, when the interchangeable lens B is rotated to be attached to the camera 8, the first cleaning member 3ag is attached to the contact seat l on the lens side.
Two lens side contact pins l present on the first surface 10C of O
Oa 1. 10a 2, and even if there is foreign matter such as dust on the contact surface, cleaning (see step 1 above)
(same as in the embodiment) to reliably prevent poor contact. Also, when the second cleaning member 3alo is rotated to be mounted, the remaining five lens-side contact pins 10a3 to 10a7 present at the second member 100' of the contact seat 10 are removed.
By sliding and cleaning, poor contact can be reliably prevented in the same way.

In the second embodiment, since the facing sides of both contact pins 3 and 10 are stepped, both contact pins 3 and 10 are stepped when the interchangeable lens B is attached to and detached from the camera 8.
By reducing the number of sliding movements of each of a 1 to la 7 , IOa , to lOa 7 , wear of the contact pins can be reduced. For example, the lens-side contact pin 10a (in the first embodiment) slides with the seven camera-side contact pins 3a1 to 3a7 and the cleaning member 3ag during the mounting rotation, but in the second embodiment, a total of three (
Contact pins 3al, 3a2 and first cleaning member 3a
9), and other contact pins can also reduce the number of times they slide, thereby suppressing wear.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1O and 11. In this third embodiment, the relationship between the movable contact pin and the fixed contact pin in the first embodiment is reversed, the camera side electrical contact pins 3'a1 to 3'a7 are fixed, and the lens side contact pin 10'a is fixed. , ~10'a7 as contact spring 1
0' b H to 10' l) 7, it can freely move forward and backward in the optical axis direction. Therefore, cleaning member 1
0'ag is arranged at the contact seat 10' of the interchangeable lens B,
When the lens B is attached to the camera A and rotated in the direction of the arrow C' force (see FIG. 10), the member 10'aB slides on all the blade side contact pins 3'a1 to 3'a7. As a result, when the mounting is completed (see FIG. 11), it is possible to clean foreign matter such as dust that has adhered to the pins 3'a1 to 3'a7, thereby preventing poor contact. Furthermore, this third
The configuration of this embodiment is simply that the movable and fixed relationship between the electrical contact pin on the camera A side and the contact pin on the interchangeable lens B side in the above-mentioned first embodiment □ example is reversed, and each symbol in the first embodiment is changed. By adding a dash to , a detailed explanation of the configuration will be omitted. In the above embodiments, the cleaning member has the same structure as the other contact pins, but the cleaning member is not limited to this. It's okay.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, the present invention provides an advantage in that when an accessory device is rotatably attached to an optical device main body and an electrical connection is made between the two contact pins, the dust attached to the contact pins is removed. A simple improvement of providing a cleaning member for removing foreign matter such as the like can improve the reliability of the contact between the contact pins and prevent malfunctions.

Further, by forming the opposing sides of both contact pins holding both contact pins into a stepped shape, it is possible to reduce the number of sliding movements of both contact pins, thereby reducing wear of the contact pins.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, and is a sectional view showing the state of the connector while an accessory device is being attached to the main body of the optical device;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the connector shown in Figure 1 in a completed state, Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the central part of the camera with the lens attached, and Figures 4 and 4 are views of the camera bayonet mount from the front side. 5 is a front view of the lens-side bayonet mount viewed from the mounting side. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a conventional example and shows the state of the connector while an accessory is being attached to the optical device body. FIG. 7 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the connector shown in FIG. 6 has been installed, and FIG.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the connector shown in FIG. 8 in a state in which the attachment of the connector is completed, and FIG. 10 is the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing the state of the connector in the process of attaching the V4 device to the optical device main body, showing the embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing the connector shown in FIG. 10 in the completed state.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The mount on the optical equipment main body side and the mount on the accessory equipment side to the optical equipment main body are composed of a rotatable bayonet mount that connects by rotating in one direction and separates by rotating in the other direction, and is centered around the optical axis of the mount side. In a connector for connecting an electric circuit, the connector has a plurality of contact pin groups that are arranged at approximately the same circumferential position and form pairs facing each other when the mount is attached, in which one of the contact pin groups is fixed to the mount. , the other can be displaced in the optical axis direction,
Furthermore, the displaceable contact pin group is arranged in the substantially same circumferential upward direction, so that it first contacts the other contact pin group when it is rotated and installed, and also comes into sliding contact with all of the contact pin groups during the installation rotation. 1. A connector for connecting an electric circuit, characterized in that a cleaning member is provided that can be elastically displaced in the optical axis direction so as to move to a position where it does not contact any of the contact pin groups when completed.