JP3332821B2 - Mode switching device for digital still camera - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital still camera for storing a captured image in a memory or a hard disk, and more particularly to a mode switching device for a camera having a macro mode for taking a close-up image of a subject.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a digital still camera in which a photographed image is stored in a memory and displayed on a printer or a display. FIG. 11 is a plan view of such a digital still camera. As you know, cabinet
A lens body (4) protrudes from the front surface of (7), and includes a liquid crystal panel (72) on which an image is projected on the back surface. cabinet
On the upper surface of (7), a slide piece (73) for switching between a normal shooting mode and a macro mode for taking a close-up of a subject is provided,
When the slide piece (73) is moved to the left, the digital still camera enters the macro mode. A display (70) indicating that the macro mode has been set is provided on the side of the slide piece (73).

FIG. 12 is a side sectional view of FIG. 11 cut along the line BB. A macro detection switch (SW1) is provided below the slide piece (73). Lens body (4)
As is well known, a CCD (charge coupled de
vice) element (43), and a lens group (44) including a plurality of lenses having different focal lengths is provided on the optical axis (47) at a distance from the CCD element (43). In the macro mode, the lens group (44)
It approaches the D element (43). Rack piece (48) for lens group (44)
A motor (M1) cooperates with the rack piece (48) via a pinion (49). When the slide (73) is moved to the left, the macro detection switch in the cabinet (7)
(SW1) turns ON. The signal of the macro detection switch (SW1) is transmitted to the motor (M1), the motor (M1) rotates, the lens group (44) approaches the CCD element (43), and the digital still camera enters the macro mode. Is set. The signal of the macro detection switch (SW1) is transmitted to the display (70), and the display (70) indicates that the macro mode is set.

[0004]

In the above configuration,
Since the lens group (44) is driven by the motor (M1), a circuit and other parts for driving the motor (M1) are required.
The configuration becomes complicated. Therefore, the applicant has conceived of projecting an operation lever (40) for changing the position of the lens group (44) from the peripheral surface of the lens body (4) and manually moving the operation lever (see FIG. 5). However, since the manual operation of the operation lever (40) is poor in operability, a manual slide member (5) is provided on the front surface of the cabinet (7), and the drive of the slide member (5) is performed by a simple mechanism. The idea was to convey to the operating lever (40) at (see FIG. 3). An object of the present invention is to switch between a normal mode and a macro mode of a digital still camera with a simple mechanism.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A digital still camera is
A macro detection switch (SW1) including a lens body (4) for photographing a subject, a macro mode for moving a lens group (44) in the lens body (4) to close up the subject, and detecting the macro mode. And a display (70) for indicating that the macro mode has been set is provided in the cabinet (7). From the peripheral surface of the lens body (4), an operation lever (40) for moving the lens group (44) projects rotatably concentrically with the lens body (4). A slide member (5) slidably provided on the front surface of the cabinet (7) and manually operated; and an operation lever provided rotatably on the back side of the front surface of the cabinet (7).
(40) and an operating ring (3) which directly fits on the slide member (5) and pivots between two positions of a normal mode and a macro mode, and the macro detection switch (SW1) is connected to the operating ring (3). It is provided to face the rotation transition path. The operating ring (3) interlocked with the slide member (5) pushes the macro detection switch (SW1) at the rotation position corresponding to the macro mode and switches the operation lever (40) to the macro mode.

[0006]

[Operation and Effect] When the operating ring (3) reaches the rotation position corresponding to the macro mode by sliding of the slide member (5), the protruding piece (30) pushes the macro detection switch (SW1) and the display ( 70) indicates that it is in macro mode. Also, the operation lever (40) of the lens body (4) rotates,
The lens group (44) in the lens body (4) is set at a position corresponding to the macro mode. That is, if the slide member (5) is manually operated, the display and the switching of the macro mode are performed at once, and the switching between the macro mode and the normal mode can be easily performed with a simple mechanism.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same components as those of the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. 1A and 1B are front views of a digital still camera, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same. On the front surface of the cabinet (7), a shutter plate (10) is provided to be openable and closable on the left and right. As shown in FIG. The viewfinder hole (11), lens hole (12) and slide member (5) to be confirmed are exposed. The lens hole (12) is the lens body described later
A hole for allowing light to enter (4). Slide member (5)
Is movable left and right, and as described later, the normal mode and the macro mode can be switched by moving the slide member (5) left and right. The macro mode is a mode that is set when taking a close-up image of a subject as in the related art.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the digital still camera. On the upper surface of the cabinet (7), a shutter button (71) and a display (70) are provided. When the macro mode is set, the display (70) indicates that, in this example, a flower mark. Is displayed. Figure 3 is a cabinet
It is an exploded perspective view of (7). The cabinet (7) is composed of a first cabinet half (1) constituting a front surface and a second cabinet half (2) constituting a rear surface, and the shutter plate (10) is provided with a first cabinet half. It is attached to (1). The slide member (5) projects the protruding shaft (50) inward from the rear surface, and a through hole formed in the first cabinet half (1).
Fits (13).

At the left end of the second cabinet half (2),
A battery housing case (20) is provided, and a support frame is
(6) is deployed. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the state where the first cabinet half (1) and the second cabinet half (2) are joined together, taken along line AA of FIG. A lens body (4) for capturing an image of a subject is fitted in the support frame (6), and an operating ring (3) is provided on the front surface of the support frame (6) with the optical axis (47) of the lens body (4) as a center. It is located rotatably. The first cabinet half (1)
It is often provided by molding of synthetic resin, and is easily bent by impact. However, in front of the lens body (4),
By providing (3), even if the first cabinet half (1) is bent, no impact is directly applied to the lens body (4).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the operating ring (3). Working ring
From the peripheral surface of (3), two support pieces (31) and (31) protrude outward, and corresponding to the support pieces (31) and (31), a receiving body (60) is received from the support frame (6). (60) protrudes forward. On the inner side surface of the receiving body (60), a vertically extending concave groove (61) is opened, and the support piece (31) fits into the concave groove (61) of the receiving body (60) with light friction, The operating ring (3) is supported by the support frame (6). A protruding piece (30) further projects from the peripheral surface of the working ring (3), and as shown in FIG.
A macro detection switch (SW1) is provided on the support frame (6) in the rotation transition path of (3). The macro detection switch
When (SW1) is pushed into the projecting piece (30), the digital still camera is set to the macro mode.

As shown in FIG. 4, a fitting piece (32) having an elongated hole (33) protrudes downward from the peripheral surface of the working ring (3).
The elongated hole (33) extends in the radial direction of the operating ring (3) and fits on the protruding shaft (50) of the slide member (5) in FIG. As described above, the slide member (5) moves right and left, and with this movement, the operating ring (5) moves.
(3) rotates around the optical axis. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the lens body (4). The lens body (4) has an opening (42) on the front surface, and protrudes from the peripheral surface an operation lever (40) that rotates about the optical axis (47). By rotating the operation lever (40), the normal mode and the macro mode are switched. Operation lever (40)
The shaft (41) protrudes forward from the tip end of the shaft, and the holding piece (34) protrudes rearward from the rear of the operating ring (3) shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the holding piece (34) and the shaft (41) are fitted,
With the rotation of the operating ring (3), the operating lever (40) is moved to the operating ring (3).
And rotate in the same direction.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the lens body (4).
Iris control plate close to the front opening (42) of the lens body (4)
(80) and a CCD element (43). C on the optical axis
A lens group (44) including a plurality of lenses having different focal lengths apart from the CD element (43) is located, and the CCD element (4
It is provided to be able to approach and separate from 3). Lens group (44)
Various mechanisms are conceivable for moving the CCD with respect to the CCD element (43), and an example is shown in FIG.
This is a cam body (45) that moves close to and away from the CCD element (43) and has a spiral cam groove (46) formed on the peripheral surface, and a lens group (45) attached to the cam body (45). 44)
The tip of the operation lever (40) is fitted into the cam groove (46). With the rotation of the operation lever (40) about the optical axis (47), the cam groove
The cam body (45) is slid forward and backward via the (46).

At the lower end of the lens body (4), as shown in FIG.
An iris drive section (8) is connected. The iris drive unit
(8) is connected to a disk iris control plate (80) located between the CCD element (43) and the front surface of the lens body (4). The iris control plate (80) arranges a plurality of window holes (81) and (81) having different sizes on an imaginary circle concentric with the center of the disk as shown in FIG.
The center of the disk is attached to a point B (see FIG. 9) inside the lens body (4) shifted from the optical axis (47). Iris drive unit (8)
Rotates the iris control plate (80) around the point B,
The amount of light incident on the lens body (4) is adjusted by matching the front opening (42) of the lens body (4) with each window hole (81).

(Macro Switching) FIG. 6 (a) is a front view showing the normal mode, and FIG. 6 (b) is a front view showing the turning position of the operating ring (3) in the macro mode. In the normal mode, the operating ring
The projection (30) of (3) is separated from the macro detection switch (SW1), and the slide member (5) is shifted to the left. Working ring (3)
The legs of a torsion spring (62) are hung on the support frame (6), respectively, and the operating ring (3) is urged clockwise by the torsion spring (62). The operation lever (40) of the lens body (4) is shown in FIG.
At the position shown by the solid line. When the slide member (5) is manually moved to the right as shown in FIG.
Rotates counterclockwise against the torsion spring (62). Projection
(30) pushes the macro detection switch (SW1), and the display (70) informs the display (70) that the macro mode has been set.
The display (70) indicates so.

The rotation of the operating ring (3) causes the torsion spring (62) to rotate.
Pivots clockwise around the point of attachment to the support frame (6). The force of the torsion spring (62) urging the operating ring (3) clockwise decreases, and the torsion spring (62) is moved in the state shown in FIG. 6 (b).
The direction in which the operating ring (3) is urged is reversed from the normal mode,
Turn counterclockwise. Thus, there is no fear that the operating ring (3) will return to the normal mode carelessly in the state where the macro mode is set. Also, with the rotation of the operating ring (3),
The operation lever (40) of the lens body (4) fitted to (34) is shown in FIG.
To the position indicated by the one-dot chain line. The cam body (45) fitted to the operation lever (40) moves forward, and the lens group (44) approaches the CCD element (43) as shown by the dashed line in FIG. That is, the manual power of the slide member (5) rotates the operation lever (40) through the operating ring (3), and the motor is used to switch the lens body (4) to the macro mode as in the prior art. Does not require a power source such as Switching from the macro mode to the normal mode may be performed by performing an operation reverse to the above operation.

In the digital still camera according to the present embodiment, when the operating ring (3) reaches a turning position corresponding to the macro mode by sliding of the slide member (5), the projecting piece (30).
Depresses the macro detection switch (SW1), and the display (70) indicates that the mode is the macro mode. Further, the operation lever (40) of the lens body (4) rotates, and the lens group (44) in the lens body (4) is set to a position corresponding to the macro mode. That is, if the slide member (5) is manually operated, the display and the switching of the macro mode are performed at once, and the switching between the macro mode and the normal mode can be easily performed with a simple mechanism.

The description of the above embodiments is for the purpose of illustrating the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the invention described in the claims or reducing the scope thereof. Further, the configuration of each part of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made within the technical scope described in the claims. In this example, the operating ring (3) switches between the normal mode and the macro mode. However, it goes without saying that the operating ring (3) can be used for switching to a mode other than the macro mode, for example, the panorama mode and the micro mode. No. Although the operation lever (40) is moved manually, it may be moved by a motor or a plunger.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a digital still camera, in which (a) shows a state in which a shutter plate is closed, and (b) shows a state in which the shutter plate is open.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the digital still camera.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a cabinet of the digital still camera.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an operation ring.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a lens body.

FIG. 6 is a front view of an operation ring, (a) is a normal mode, (b)
Indicates the macro mode.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3 in a state where the first cabinet half and the second cabinet half are combined.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing an operation state of an operation lever of the lens body.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of a lens body.

FIG. 10 is a front view of an iris control plate.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a conventional digital still camera.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 11;

[Explanation of symbols]

 (3) Working ring (4) Lens body (5) Slide member (7) Cabinet (40) Operation lever (62) Torsion spring (70) Display

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B ^7/ 02-7/105 H04N 5/225

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A lens body for photographing an object;
It has a macro mode for moving the lens group (44) in the lens body (4) to take a close-up image of the subject, a macro detection switch (SW1) for detecting the macro mode, and an indication that the macro mode has been set. Display (70) is a cabinet
In the digital still camera mode switching device provided in (7), the operation lever (40) for moving the lens group (44) is concentric with the lens body (4) from the peripheral surface of the lens body (4). A sliding member (5) slidably provided on the front surface of the cabinet (7) and slidably provided on the front side of the cabinet (7); An operating ring (3) which directly fits on the lever (40) and the slide member (5) and rotates between two positions of a normal mode and a macro mode is provided, and the macro detection switch (SW1) is an operating ring (3). The operation ring (3), which is provided opposite to the rotation transition path, and is linked to the slide member (5), has a macro detection switch (SW1) at a rotation position corresponding to the macro mode.
And a mode switching device for a digital still camera, wherein the operation lever (40) is switched to a macro mode. 2. The operation ring (3) and the cabinet (7) are respectively hung with a leg piece of a torsion spring (62), and the rotation position of the operation ring (3) in the normal mode and the rotation position in the macro mode. 2. The mode switching device for a digital still camera according to claim 1, wherein the biasing directions of the torsion spring (62) are opposite to each other at the rotational position.