JPH08201910A - Camera with shot counter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To obtain a camera that can directly display the total number of shots that require regular inspection of the camera. A first display means for displaying a cumulative shutter release number of the camera; and a second display means for displaying a cumulative shutter release number of the camera after inspecting and / or repairing the camera. A camera.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a device for displaying a cumulative usage frequency of a camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, by counting the number of shots of a camera (cumulative shutter release number), it has been used as a standard for how much the camera is cumulatively used. However, the conventional device merely shows the cumulative number of shots of the camera, and does not clearly indicate the periodical inspection time, which is indispensable when taking a large amount of photographs like professionals and high amateurs. That is, even if the first regular inspection is performed based on the cumulative number of shots, the next regular inspection cannot be immediately known only from the cumulative number of shots. For this reason, there is a possibility that a camera trouble may occur due to the missed time of the regular inspection.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a camera which can inform the user of the time of regular inspection more directly, based on the above-mentioned awareness of the problems of the conventional camera having a shot counter. .

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the present invention, first display means for displaying the cumulative shutter release count of a camera; cumulative shutter of the camera after inspection or / and repair of the camera And a second display means for displaying the number of releases.

The first display means and the second display means can be used in common, and either one can be selected and operated.
Furthermore, the first display means and the second display means can be combined with other display means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a shot counter for counting the cumulative shutter release number of the camera; first and second memories for storing the count number of the shot counter; as well as)
It is characterized by comprising means for resetting the second memory when repaired; means for displaying the count number stored in the first and second memories.

It is preferable that the second memory can be reset only when at least a part of the camera is disassembled, and the reset operation is performed by a repair worker. If a display means for displaying that the number of counts stored in the second memory exceeds a predetermined value is further provided, the user can be notified of the necessity of periodical inspection.

If the present invention is limited to the purpose of notifying the periodic inspection time, a shot counter for counting the cumulative shutter release number of the camera; means for resetting the counter at the time of inspection and / or repair of the camera; And a means for displaying the count number of;

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a camera to which the present invention is applied, viewed from the rear. This camera 25 has a taking lens (not shown) on its front surface, has a release button 26, a main power switch 34, and an LCD display unit 28 on its upper surface, and has a viewfinder eyepiece window 27 and a shot on its rear surface. It has a counter button 32 and a back cover 33. The release button 26 is configured so that it can be pushed in two steps. The photometric switch 18 (FIG. 2) is turned on when the first step is half-push, and the release switch 19 (FIG. 2) is shown when the second step is full-push. Turn on.

In this embodiment, the LCD display unit 28 is
The first display means for displaying the cumulative shutter release number from the time of purchasing the camera and the second display means for displaying the cumulative shutter release number of the camera after inspecting and / or repairing the camera are combined. The shot counter button 32 is configured as a switching unit that selects and operates these first and second display units.

3 and 4 each show a state in which different information is displayed on the same LCD display unit 28. That is, FIG. 3 shows the number of shots of the camera displayed when the shot counter button 32 is pressed once. This is the total number of shots, that is, the camera shutter has been released 25,000 times in total from the time of purchasing the camera. Means that. FIG. 4 also shows the number of shots taken by the camera when the shot counter button 32 is pressed once more. This means that the shutter has been released 2,000 times since the camera 25 was inspected and / or repaired. Means that

FIGS. 5 to 7 show an aperture value display section (common display means, FIG. 5) for displaying the aperture value Av, the shutter speed Tv, and the ISO normally by 7 segments within the range of the LCD display section 28. 40, a shutter speed display section (shared display means, FIG. 6) 41, and an ISO display section (shared display means, FIG. 7) 42. In the present embodiment, when the shot counter button 32 is pressed, the above-mentioned two types of information regarding the number of shots are displayed on any of these numerical value display sections.

If such a display is made on the LCD display unit 28, the camera user (user) can check and / or repair not only the total number of shots (cumulative shutter release number) of the camera 25 after purchase. Since it is possible to know the number of shots (cumulative number of shutter releases) since the start of shooting, it is possible to know the time when the periodic inspection is started. Therefore, it is possible to avoid problems such as camera troubles that are missed during the regular inspection. In addition, LC of two pieces of information
Since the display is sequentially displayed on the D display unit 28, the display space in the LCD display unit 28 can be increased.

A system block diagram for realizing the above functions of the camera 25 is shown in FIG. In the figure, a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) 10 is
The photometric light receiving element 11 is connected to the A / D conversion port P _A through the photometric circuit 12, and the exposure control circuit 13 for controlling the shutter and the aperture is connected to the exposure control port P _B.
The E ² PROM 14 is connected to the serial communication port P _C. Reading and writing of information with respect to the E ² PROM 14 is performed by serial communication with the microcomputer 10. In addition, the winding and rewinding port P of the microcomputer 10
_A film winding / rewinding motor 15 is connected to _D via a winding control circuit 16, and an LCD display port P _E is
The LCD display unit 28 is connected.

To the input ports P _{1 to} P ₄ of the microcomputer 11, a photometric switch 18 for starting the photometric processing by the photometric circuit 12, a release switch 19 which is turned on when the release button 26 is pushed, and a shot counter button 32 are respectively pushed. A shot counter switch 20 and a shot counter clear switch 21 which are turned on when the shutter is closed are connected.

The shot counter clear switch 21 is
It is turned on when a part of the camera 25 is disassembled during inspection or / and repair of the camera 25, and is written (stored) in the E ² PROM 14 after inspection or / and repair of the camera 25. The cumulative shutter release count of the camera is cleared. Therefore, the shot counter clear switch 21 is provided at a portion (the inside of the decorative board, etc.) that is first touched when the camera 25 is taken out for repair or when the camera 25 is disassembled at a service center or the like. With this configuration, when the shot counter clear switch 21 is turned on, the lands of the circuit board are short-circuited and the memory of the E ² PROM 14 forming a part of the shot counter is once cleared. Therefore, the count starts from 0 after repair. be able to. Note that reference numeral 23 in FIG. 2 indicates a battery of the camera.

Next, the operation sequence of the camera based on the above circuit configuration will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. This operation is all for the microcomputer 1
0 is executed according to the program stored in the internal memory (not shown).

When the main power switch 34 is turned on, the power of the battery 23 is supplied to the circuit to enter the main routine shown in FIG. In this main routine, first, initialization is executed and all necessary flags are set to "0" for initialization (step S1). As a result, the number S of times the shot counter button 32 is turned on is also set to "0". Then, the data of the photometric switch 18, the release switch 19, the shot counter switch 20, and the shot counter clear switch 21 can be input from the input ports P _{1 to} P ₄ (S2).

In this state, if the photometry switch 18 is turned on by pressing the release button 26 halfway, the photometry A /
D conversion is performed through the A / D conversion port P _A , the aperture value Av and the shutter speed Tv are calculated based on the photometric signal from the photometric circuit 12, and the values are displayed on the LCD display unit 28 (S4 to S6). .

If the release button 26 is further pressed and the release switch 19 is turned on, the microcomputer 10
Drives and controls a shutter mechanism (not shown) and an aperture (not shown) based on the calculated aperture value Av and shutter speed Tv (S7 to S8). And at the end of the release operation,
The winding mechanism (not shown) is drive-controlled to wind the film by one frame (S9). At this time, the microcomputer 10 reads from the E ² PROM 14 an E ² address A for writing information on the total number of shots of the camera, and adds information (A + 1) to the current total number of shots, which is the E ² address. Write to A (S10, S11).

Similarly, the microcomputer 10 reads from the E ² PROM 14 the E ² address B for writing the information on the number of shots after repairing the camera 25, and adds "1" to the current number of shots (B + 1). ) Is written to the E ² address B (S12, S13). If the release switch 19 is not turned on in S7, the process returns to S2 and the loop up to S7 is repeated.

If the photometric switch 18 is not turned on in S3, it is checked in S14 whether the release switch 19 is turned on. As a result, if the release switch 19 is turned on, the process proceeds to S4, and if not, the process proceeds to S15. In S15, if the camera 25 is partially inspected and / or repaired and the shot counter clear switch 21 is turned on in S15, "0" is written to the E ² address B, and the inspection or / and / or inspection is performed. The number of shots taken after repair is cleared, and the shot display processing subroutine is entered. If the camera 25 is not sent for inspection and / or repair and the shot counter clear switch 21 is not turned on, the shot display processing subroutine is directly entered.

When entering the shot display processing subroutine shown in FIG. 9, the microcomputer 10 first checks whether or not the shot counter switch 20 is turned on. As a result, if the shot counter switch 20 is turned on, S1
9. If it is not turned on, proceed to S30.

In S19, the shot counter switch 2
"1" is set to the flag F-Ind which means that 0 is turned on. In S20, the shot counter switch 2
It is determined whether or not the flag F-SWold, which means that 0 has been turned off and then turned on, is "0". As a result, if the flag F-SWold is "0", "1" is added to the number of ON times S (S21). If the flag F-SWold is not "0", S2
Jump to 2.

In S22, it is checked whether or not the number of ON times S is "3" or more. If it is "3" or more, the number of ON times S is forcibly set to "0" to clear the number of ON times S, and S
Proceed to 2 (S23). If it is less than "3", the process directly proceeds to S24, and it is checked whether the number of times of turn-on S is "1". As a result, if the number of ON times S is "1", the information of the E ² address A corresponding to the total number of shots is read and the information multiplied by 1/10000 is displayed on the LCD display unit 28 (S25, S26). . If the number of ON times S is not "1", the process proceeds to S27 to check whether the number of ON times S is "2". If the number of ON times S is "2", the inspection or / and repair is performed. E ² address B corresponding to the number of shots
Information is read and the information multiplied by 1/10000 is displayed on the LCD
It is displayed on the display unit 28 (S28, S29).

On the other hand, in S30, which is performed when the shot counter switch 20 is not turned on, "0" is set in the flag F-SWold, and it is checked in S31 whether "1" is set in the flag F-Ind. . As a result, if "1" is set, the process proceeds to S32, and if not, the process returns.

In S32, it is checked whether "1" is set in the flag F-Timer, and if "0" is set, the process proceeds to S34. In S34, the flag F-Timer is set to "1".
Is set, a display timer (not shown) in the microcomputer 10 is started (S35), and the process proceeds to S22 and thereafter,
Number of times the shot counter button 32 is turned on S (one or two times)
The information according to the above is displayed on the LCD display unit 28. After this,
Since the flag F-Timer is set to "1", the process proceeds to S33 after passing through S18, S30, S31, and S32 again, and waits for the time-up of the display timer.

That is, in S33, it is checked whether or not the display timer has timed out. If the time is up, the flag F-Ind is reset to "0" and the flag F-Time is reset.
Reset r to "0" and reset the number of times S to "0", and E ² address A corresponding to the total number of shots after purchase.
Information also inspected or (and) also switched to the normal display mode without displaying information corresponding E ² Address B on the number of shots after repair (S36 to S39).

If the display timer is not timed up in S33, the process proceeds to S22 and thereafter, and the information according to the number S of times the shot counter button 32 is turned on is displayed as LC.
The D display section 28 continues to display.

In the first embodiment, the display timer is used to clear the cumulative shutter release number after a predetermined time has elapsed since the shot counter switch 20 was turned on. However, the shot counter button 32 is pressed once more. At this time, or when the release button 26 is half-pressed, the cumulative shutter release count may be cleared to return to the original display of the aperture value and the like.

In the first embodiment, different information is sequentially displayed on the LCD display unit 28 according to the number of times the shot counter button 32 is pressed. However, as shown in FIG. 10, the shot counter button 32 is pressed once. When pushed in, different information can be simultaneously displayed on the LCD display unit 28. In the display in the second embodiment, the total number of shots of the camera 25 after purchase is displayed on the upper part and the number of shots after inspection or / and repair is displayed on the lower part, as shown in FIG. You can Also, the upper and lower displays can be configured in the opposite manner.

When two pieces of information are simultaneously displayed on the LCD display unit 28 as described above, the display information can be configured to be cleared after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the shot counter button 32 was pressed, and also the shot counter button. It can be configured to display when 32 is pressed once, and to clear when 32 is pressed once more. Furthermore, the display information may be cleared by pressing the release button 26 one step.

In the first and second embodiments, the LCD display section 28 which normally displays information such as the aperture value is also used as the display of the cumulative shutter release number. Therefore, the display section for the shot counter display is used. The purpose can be achieved without increasing.

In the first and second embodiments, two different pieces of information are displayed on the same LCD display section 28. However, other display sections are provided in addition to the LCD display section 28, and the LCD display section 28 and It can be configured to display two different pieces of information on the other display portions. In this case,
Since the difference in the displayed information is made clearer, it becomes easier for the user to check the cumulative shutter release number after inspection and / or repair.

In the above first and second embodiments,
A display means is provided for notifying the user when the count number stored in the E ² address B of the E ² PROM 14 corresponding to the number of shots from inspection or / and repair exceeds a predetermined value. it can. For the display means, for example, 7 segments separately provided in the LCD display unit 28 can be used, or an LCD display unit provided separately from the LCD display unit 28 can be used. As a result, it becomes possible to inform the user of the periodic inspection timing more clearly.

In the first and second embodiments, both the cumulative shutter release number after camera purchase and the cumulative shutter release number after inspection or / and repair are counted and displayed. In the case of limiting the purpose of informing the periodic inspection time, the cumulative shutter release number counted from the time of purchasing the camera is counted by the shot counter, and the counted number is displayed on the LCD display unit 28 or the like. Can be configured to reset after every inspection or / and repair. According to this, it is possible to obtain a camera that can notify the user of the time of the regular inspection with a simpler configuration.

[0037]

According to the present invention, the number of shots after inspection or / and repair can also be displayed on the conventional shot counter, and the user can be informed of the periodic inspection time and the like. Therefore, it becomes possible to prevent camera troubles.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a camera to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram showing a control system of this camera.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an LCD display unit that displays a cumulative shutter release count after purchasing a camera.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an LCD display unit that displays a cumulative shutter release number after inspection or / and repair.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which a cumulative shutter release number after camera purchase is displayed on an aperture value display section of an LCD display section.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which a cumulative shutter release number after camera purchase is displayed on a shutter speed display section of the LCD display section.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state where a cumulative shutter release number after camera purchase is displayed on an ISO display section of the LCD display section.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a main routine of this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a shot display processing routine of the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an LCD display unit that simultaneously displays the cumulative shutter release count after camera purchase and the cumulative shutter release count after inspection or / and repair.

[Explanation of symbols]

14 E ² PROM (first memory, second memory) 20 shot counter switch (switching means) 21 shot counter clear switch (resetting means) 25 camera 28 LCD display section (first display means, second display means) ) 30 mode button (switching means) 31 drive button (switching means) 32 shot counter button (switching means) 35 mode changeover switch (switching means) 36 drive switch (switching means) 40 aperture value display section (shared display means) 41 shutter Speed display section (shared display means) 42 ISO display section (shared display means)

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A first display means for displaying a cumulative shutter release number of the camera; a second display means for displaying a cumulative shutter release number of the camera after inspecting and / or repairing the camera; A camera having a shot counter. 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the first display device and the second display device are also used, and a switching device for selecting and operating the first and second display devices is further provided. Camera with shot counter. 3. The camera according to claim 2, wherein the first display means and the second display means each have a shot counter which is also used as another display means. 4. A shot counter for counting the cumulative shutter release number of the camera; a first memory for storing the count number of the shot counter; a second memory for storing the count number of the shot counter;
A means for resetting the second memory when the camera is inspected and / or repaired; means for displaying the count number stored in the first and second memories. Camera with shot counter. 5. The camera according to claim 4, wherein the second memory can be reset only when at least a part of the camera is disassembled. 6. The camera according to claim 4, wherein the count numbers stored in the first and second memories are displayed by the same display means. 7. The shared display according to claim 4, wherein the count number stored in the first and second memories is always displayed differently from the memory contents of the first and second memories. A camera having a shot counter performed through the means. 8. The camera having a shot counter according to claim 4, further comprising display means for displaying that the count number stored in the second memory exceeds a predetermined value. . 9. A shot counter for counting the cumulative number of shutter release times of the camera; means for resetting the counter when checking or / and repairing the camera; means for displaying the count number of the counter. A camera having a shot counter.