JP2004363815A - Portable telephone set with camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent photography from an improper angle and to prevent such photography to be repeated when a mobile telephone set with a camera is used. <P>SOLUTION: A processing part 301 in a low-angle photography control part 300 measures the angle β of the optical axis of the camera 104 to a horizontal surface from a tilt angle α that a tilt sensor 105 fitted to a housing detects to check the large/small relation of the angle γ between the optical axis of the camera and the housing. A camera control part 302 turns off the camera when it is judged from the angle γ that the angle β is improper (β<γ) to prevent the camera 104 from being actuated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mobile phone with a camera function.
[Prior art]
In recent years, some mobile phones have a built-in data communication function such as transmission / reception of e-mail and Internet connection in addition to a voice call function, and services using these functions are widely used. When the speed of data communication gradually increases and a large amount of data can be transmitted and received, a camera function is provided in a mobile phone, and image data captured by the camera is transmitted to the outside.
[0003]
On the other hand, in a conventional camera-equipped mobile phone, a product that emits a shutter sound at the time of shooting is provided as means for preventing voyeurism. Further, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method of detecting a tilt of a housing and invalidating a shutter operation according to an angle from a horizontal plane.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-290818 (0012 to 0013, FIG. 2)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the shutter sound at the time of photographing is difficult to hear in crowds, there is a problem that improper usage may be performed. Further, in the technique described in Patent Literature 1, since the inclination of the housing is not always perpendicular to the direction (optical axis) of the lens of the camera, camera control based on the inclination of the housing is limited.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a camera-equipped mobile phone having a function of measuring an angle between an optical axis of a camera and a horizontal plane and preventing shooting from an inappropriate angle. Aim.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The camera-equipped mobile phone of the present invention, in the camera-equipped mobile phone, detecting means for detecting the inclination of the housing, measuring means for measuring the angle between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane from the detected inclination of the housing, When the use or non-use of the camera is determined based on the measured angle between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane and the angle between the optical axis of the camera and the housing, and the use of the camera is determined. Control means for turning off the power of the camera.
[0008]
According to this configuration, the angle between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane is measured from the inclination of the housing, and the measured angle between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane is determined from the angle between the optical axis of the camera and the housing. If it is not appropriate, the camera can be turned off to prevent the camera from starting.
[0009]
The camera-equipped mobile phone of the present invention employs a configuration according to the above invention, further comprising a warning unit for notifying the user that the camera cannot be used.
[0010]
According to this configuration, when it is determined that the camera cannot be used, it can be notified.
[0011]
In the camera-equipped mobile phone of the present invention, in the above invention, the warning means is any one of a sounding means for generating a warning sound, a light emitting means for generating light, and a vibration means for vibrating a housing, or The configuration is a combination.
[0012]
According to this configuration, a warning method adapted to the use or the like can be adopted.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The gist of the present invention is to prevent shooting from an inappropriate angle before using a camera-equipped mobile phone, and to prevent recurrence.
[0014]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0015]
(Embodiment 1)
1 and 2 are external views of a camera-equipped mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an external view as viewed from the main LCD side, and FIG. 2 is an external view as viewed from the sub LCD side.
[0016]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a mobile phone 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention is a foldable type and includes an upper housing 101 and a lower housing 102. FIG. 1 shows a front side in an expanded state, and FIG. 2 shows a rear side in an expanded state.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 1, a main LCD 103 is provided in an upper housing 101, and a small tilt sensor 105 is attached to an upper portion thereof in addition to a camera 104 as a part related to the present invention. In the lower housing 102, various general keys are arranged.
[0018]
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a sub LCD 106 is provided in the upper housing 101, and an LED 107 and a speaker 108 are arranged as related to the present invention. In addition, a vibrator 109 is disposed in the lower housing 102 as being related to the present invention.
[0019]
Here, in this embodiment, the inclination sensor 105 is arranged so as to detect the inclination of the upper housing 101 from the horizontal plane in the longitudinal direction. As one of the control units, a low-angle photographing control unit 300 as shown in FIG. 3 is incorporated.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a control system diagram illustrating the configuration and operation of the low-angle shooting control unit 300 included in the camera-equipped mobile phone 100 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the low-angle photographing control unit 300 determines the longitudinal direction of the upper housing 101 based on the tilt angle α detected by the tilt sensor 105 and the angle γ between the upper housing 101 and the optical axis of the camera 104. A processing unit 301 that calculates an angle β formed between the upper housing 101 and the optical axis of the camera 104, and determines the magnitude relationship between the angle γ formed by the optical axis of the camera 104 and the obtained angle β. When β <γ, a camera control unit 302 that determines that the camera 104 cannot be used and performs control to turn off the power of the camera 104.
[0021]
When the power of the camera 104 is turned off, the camera control unit 302 also performs control for issuing an alarm using the LED 107, the speaker 108, and the vibrator 109.
[0022]
Next, an operation of the low-angle shooting control unit 300 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of determining that the camera can be used. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation of determining that the camera cannot be used.
[0023]
4 and 5, the angle γ is an angle between the longitudinal direction of the upper housing 101 and the optical axis 401 of the camera 104, and is 90 degrees when the camera 104 is fixed to the upper housing 101. .
[0024]
When the activation switch of the camera 104 is turned on at a time other than the standby processing timing of the mobile phone 100, the camera control unit 302 intermittently issues a tilt measurement command to the tilt sensor 105. The inclination angle α in the longitudinal direction of the upper housing 101 detected by the inclination sensor 105 is input to the processing unit 301.
[0025]
In FIG. 4, when the lower housing 102 is held in the plane of the horizontal plane 402, the longitudinal direction of the upper housing 101 is in a state of being lifted by an angle 403 from the horizontal plane 402. This angle 403 is detected by the tilt sensor 105 as the tilt angle α. In this state, the angle 405 between the optical axis 401 and the horizontal plane 404 is the angle β obtained by the processing unit 301, and is obtained from the angle γ and the inclination angle α. Next, the processing unit 301 determines the magnitude relationship between the angle β and the angle γ. In the case of FIG. 4, since β ≧ γ, the camera control unit 302 determines whether the camera 104 can be used. The detection operation by the inclination sensor 105 is continued.
[0026]
In FIG. 5, in a state where the lower casing 102 is held with the lower end inclined upward with respect to the horizontal plane 501, the longitudinal direction of the upper casing 101 is a so-called low The camera is in angle shooting. This angle 502 is detected by the tilt sensor 105 as the tilt angle α. In this state, the angle 503 between the optical axis 401 and the horizontal plane 501 is the angle β determined by the processing unit 301, which is determined from the angle γ and the tilt angle α. Next, the processing unit 301 determines the magnitude relationship between the angle β and the angle γ. In the case of FIG. 5, since β <γ, the camera control unit 302 determines that the camera 104 cannot be used, assuming that it is a low-angle shooting, and performs control to turn off the power of the camera 104.
[0027]
At this time, when the camera 104 is restarted, it can be configured such that a certain time is required until the camera 104 is started. In addition, a warning sound is issued from the speaker 108, a warning is issued by blinking or lighting the LED 107, a warning is issued using vibration of the vibrator 109, or a warning is issued by a combination thereof. Therefore, shooting from an inappropriate angle can be prevented beforehand, and recurrence can be effectively prevented.
[0028]
In the above embodiment, the camera-equipped mobile phone having the camera fixed to the housing has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a camera-equipped mobile phone having a rotary camera can be similarly applied if the tilt sensor is arranged in a camera rotating unit.
[0029]
In the above embodiment, the foldable camera-equipped mobile phone has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be similarly applied to a straight type camera-equipped mobile phone.
[0030]
Further, in the above embodiment, the description has been given assuming that the longitudinal inclination of the housing is detected using the uniaxial inclination sensor, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, using a biaxial inclination sensor, the inclination in the longitudinal direction and the direction orthogonal thereto is detected, and if either one of the angles β between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane is smaller than γ, it is determined that the camera cannot be used. Can be. According to this, it is possible to more accurately determine whether the camera can be used or not than when the uniaxial tilt sensor is used.
[0031]
In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the camera is arranged on the front surface of the mobile phone has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to the camera arranged on the back surface.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the angle between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane is measured from the inclination of the housing, and the measured angle between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane is determined by the optical axis of the camera and the housing. When it is not appropriate to judge from the angle made by the camera, the power of the camera can be turned off and the camera can be prevented from being activated. Therefore, shooting from an inappropriate angle can be prevented beforehand, and recurrence can also be prevented.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external view of a camera-equipped mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from a main LCD side. FIG. 2 is an external view of a camera-equipped mobile phone shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a control system diagram for explaining the configuration and operation of a low-angle photographing control unit provided in the camera-equipped mobile phone shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation for determining that the camera can be used. For explaining the operation to be performed
100 Mobile phone with camera 101 Upper housing 102 Lower housing 103 Main LCD
104 camera 105 tilt sensor 106 sub LCD
107 LED
108 Speaker 109 Vibrator 300 Low-angle shooting control unit 301 Processing unit 302 Camera control unit 401 Optical axis 402, 404, 501 of camera Horizontal plane 403, 502 Angle (angle α) between horizontal plane and upper housing
405, 503 Angle (angle β) between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane
The angle between the optical axis of the camera and the upper housing (90 ° for a fixed camera)

Claims (3)

In a camera-equipped mobile phone,
Detecting means for detecting the inclination of the housing;
Measuring means for measuring the angle between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane from the detected inclination of the housing;
When it is determined whether the camera can be used or not from the measured angle between the optical axis of the camera and the horizontal plane and the angle formed between the optical axis of the camera and the housing, and it is determined that the camera cannot be used. Control means for turning off the power of the camera;
A mobile phone with a camera, comprising: 2. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1, further comprising a warning unit for notifying that the camera cannot be used. 3. The camera according to claim 2, wherein the warning unit is any one of a sound generation unit that generates a warning sound, a light emission unit that generates light, a vibration unit that vibrates a housing, or a combination thereof. With mobile phone.

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