JPH09135378A - Digital video camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) 【Abstract】 PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly pan and tilt a digital video camera at a wide angle. A camera body (2) having an objective lens (4) is rotatably attached to a camera stand (3), an analog signal processing board (51) is housed in the camera body (2), and a digital signal processing board (55) is housed in the camera body (2). Then, the boards 51 and 55 are electrically connected to each other, and a connector 60 for outputting a digital video signal is provided on the camera stand.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The technical field to which the present invention pertains is
It is the best digital video camera for use in video conferences.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when conducting a video conference or the like, a video camera installed above a monitor TV or the like of a computer such as a personal computer is used to photograph the faces and calligraphy of the participants of the conference, and the video is used for the work. Using a communication system such as a station or telephone line, the image is displayed on the monitor TV of the other party to communicate with. Then, by the mutual communication of the images, the system is such that the remote places can proceed with the conference while looking at each other's faces and drawings.

Therefore, the inventor of the present invention has already applied for a prior invention of this type of video camera, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 6-236931. In the video camera of the prior invention, a camera body in which an optical system having an objective lens is housed is attached to an upper part of a camera stand so as to be vertically rotatable around a horizontal rotation center axis, and the objective lens is rotated vertically. It is convenient because it has a tilt function that is a motion.

[0004]

However, the video camera of this prior invention is a so-called analog video camera and is unsuitable for a digital video camera having a very high resolution.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and since an analog video camera has a small number of output signal lines of an analog video signal to a tape recorder, the analog video camera has an analog signal to a video tape recorder. Compared to the fact that a thin cable can be used as a video signal output cable, the number of digital video signal output signal lines to the tape recorder is much larger than the number of analog video signal output signal lines. Although it is a digital video camera in which a thick cable must be used as a cable for outputting the digital video signal of the
It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital video camera capable of smoothly performing ER) and pan (PAN) which is a left-right rotation motion at a wide angle.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a digital video camera according to the present invention has a camera body, in which an optical system having an objective lens is housed, mounted on a camera stand so that the direction of the camera can be changed, and analog signal processing is performed. While the board is housed in the camera body, the digital signal processing board is housed in the camera stand to electrically connect both boards, and a thick output cable for connection to the video tape recorder is connected. A connector for outputting a digital video signal is provided on the camera stand.

The digital video camera of the present invention having the above-described structure stores the optical system having the objective lens, and is an analog signal processing board in the camera body, which is a movable part capable of changing the direction with respect to the camera stand. Since the digital signal processing board in the camera stand, which is the fixed part, is separated and the connector for outputting the digital signal is attached to the camera stand, use a thick cable as the cable for outputting the digital video signal to the video tape recorder. Even if it is used, the thick cable does not adversely affect the tilt function of the objective lens.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a video camera device for a computer will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Outline of Video Camera Device for Computer and Explanation of Method of Use] First, an outline of video camera device for computer and method of use will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, 20 and 21.

This video camera device for a computer comprises a digital video camera 1 which is a video camera, and a video camera platform 71. The digital video camera 1 is composed of a small camera body 2 having a substantially rectangular tube shape (or a substantially cylindrical shape) and a camera stand 3 having a substantially L-shaped cross section. The objective lens 4 is arranged on the front surface, which is one end in the longitudinal direction of the camera body 2, and a pull-out shutter 5 that can open and close the front surface of the objective lens 4 is provided.

The camera body 2 is mounted on the camera stand 3 by a tilt mechanism 6 so as to be rotatable in vertical directions a and b in the vertical direction.

Next, the pan / tilt head 71 for a video camera has a pan / base base 72 formed of a horizontal plate such as an iron plate, a rotary arm 73 horizontally arranged above the pan / base base 72, and the rotary arm. It is composed of a rotary base 74 horizontally mounted on the tip 73a of 73 and a horizontal camera mount 75 detachably mounted on the rotary base 74.

Then, on the platform base 72, the base end 73b of the rotary arm 73 is mounted by the first pan mechanism 76 so as to be freely rotatable by 360 ° in the directions of arrows c and d in the horizontal plane. On the tip 73a, turntable 74
Is rotatably mounted in the horizontal plane by the second pan mechanism 77 in the directions of arrows e and f by 360 ° (within about 30 ° in an actual usage pattern). A plurality of locking means 78 such as a double-sided adhesive tape, a suction cup or the like is attached to the lower surface of the platform base 52.

When the video camera device is used, as shown in FIG. 2, a pan base 72 of a pan 71 for a video camera is mounted on a monitor TV 111 of a computer such as a personal computer by a plurality of locking means 78. After being locked horizontally by adhesion or suction, and mounted horizontally, the digital video camera 1 is removably mounted on the camera mount 75 by the camera stand 3, and the camera mount 75 is mounted on the rotary base 74. It is detachably attached and used.

When a video conference or the like is to be held, the digital video camera 1 and the video tape recorder are connected by a cable for outputting a digital video signal, which will be described later, so that the face or the document of a conference participant can be displayed on the digital video camera 1.
And shoot the image on the monitor TV of the other party to communicate with by using a communication system such as a workstation or a telephone line. Then, by the mutual communication of the images, the system is such that the remote places can proceed with the conference while looking at each other's faces and drawings.

At this time, as shown in FIG.
The 360 ° rotary movement of the rotary arm 73 on the second pan by the first pan mechanism 56 in the directions of arrows c and d, and the rotary base 74 and the second pan mechanism 76 on the tip 73a of the rotary arm 73. It is possible to pan (PAN) the objective lens 4 of the digital video camera 1 to the left and right in a wide angle by the rotational movement of two axes including the rotational movement in the direction.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The objective lens 4 of the digital video camera 1 can be tilted in a wide angle up and down direction (TILTER) by the rotational movement in the directions of the arrows a and b by the tilt mechanism 6 of the rotary table 74 on the tip 73a of the.

Therefore, the face of the participant and the calligraphy 112 (see FIG. 4) at the time of the video conference can be freely photographed at a wide angle.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to reverse the mounting direction of the pan head 71 for the video camera on the upper part of the monitor TV 101 by 180 ° and to communicate for the purpose of protecting privacy. When there is no particular need to send an image to the intended other party, the front surface of the objective lens 4 can be closed by the shutter 5 so that a person's face or the like is not taken carelessly.

"Detailed description of each part of the video camera device" Next, details of each part of the video camera device will be sequentially described.

"Explanation of camera body and shutter" First,
The camera body 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The camera main body 2 is composed of upper and lower cases 11 and 12 which are two cases divided by a synthetic resin, and a front panel 13, and has a substantially rectangular tube shape (or a cylindrical shape). A circular lens hole 14 is opened in a front panel 13 which constitutes a front surface which is one end in the longitudinal direction of the main body 2.

The objective lens 4 is attached to the tip of the lens barrel 15, and a solid-state image pickup device (not shown) such as a CCD, a zoom motor 17, a focusing motor 18, an iris motor 19 and the like are attached to the lens barrel 15. Are attached to form an optical system 20.

The optical system 20 is used as the sheet metal chassis 2.
1 is mounted in 1 and housed in the upper and lower cases 11 and 12, and the front panel 13 is fitted and locked to the front ends of the upper and lower cases 11 and 12 by a plurality of locking claws 22 and locking pieces 24. Then, the upper and lower cases 11 and 12 are fitted from above and below and screwed to the sheet metal chassis 21 or the like by a plurality of set screws 23 to assemble the camera body 2. The objective lens 4 is coaxially exposed in the lens hole 14 of the front panel 13.

On the other hand, the shutter 5 is made of synthetic resin, and can be freely put in and taken out in a direction parallel to the optical axis F of the objective lens 4 on one side of the camera body 2 by a shutter support 26 which is also made of synthetic resin. It is configured to be compactly stored.

At this time, a pair of vertical guide pins 27 are integrally formed on the upper and lower sides of the rear end 24a of the shutter support 24 formed on the vertical plate so as to have the same axial center, and are vertically formed inside the upper and lower cases 11 and 12. And a pair of upper and lower guide pins 27 are formed in guide grooves 28 of a pair of upper and lower guide rails 27 that are integrally formed parallel to the optical axis F.
It is loosely fitted in the direction. Then, the slit 30 formed vertically on one side of the front panel 13
A shutter 5 formed on a vertical plate is inserted into and removed from the directions g and h. The shutter 5 is attached to the front end 27b of the shutter support 27 in the horizontal plane by an arrow j, by a pair of upper and lower fulcrum pins 31 integrally formed above and below the one end 5a of the shutter 5 so as to have the same axis.
It is attached so that it can rotate in the k direction. A knob 5b is integrally formed on the other end of the shutter 5.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the shutter 5 together with the shutter support 26 is guided by the pair of upper and lower guide pins 27 and the guide rails 28 in the camera body 2 in parallel with the optical axis F by an arrow g. When inserted in the direction, the shutter 5 can be compactly stored in the camera body 2.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, after the shutter 5 is completely pulled out in the direction of the arrow h to the outside of the camera body 2, the shutter 5 is moved around the pair of upper and lower fulcrum pins 31 as shown in FIG. By rotating the shutter 5 in the direction of the arrow j and bringing the shutter 5 into close contact with the front panel 13, the front surface of the objective lens 4 can be closed by the shutter 5.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the shutter 5 is attached to the front panel 13 and the shutter 5 as shown in FIG. The magnet 13 can be attracted to the magnet 13, and the opening / closing operation of the shutter 5 in the directions of the arrows j and k can be smoothly performed.

As shown in FIG. 7, the shutter 5 can be held parallel to the optical axis F by slightly reducing the amount of pulling out the shutter 5 from the camera body 2 in the direction of the arrow h. Thus, there is an effect that the disturbance light can be prevented from entering the objective lens 4 at the time of photographing.

A zoom switch button 34, a focus switch button 35, etc. are attached to one side surface of the camera body 2.

[Description of Camera Stand] Next, FIGS.
The camera stand will be described with reference to FIG.

The camera stand 3 is made of synthetic resin or the like, and has a horizontal portion 3a and a vertical portion 3b which are substantially L-shaped in cross section. The camera body 2 is mounted on the upper portion of the horizontal portion 3a. It is configured to be. The side plate 3c of the vertical portion 3b has a plurality of setscrews 3
It is configured to be removable by 7.

[Description of Tilt Mechanism] Next, FIG. 11 and FIG.
The tilt mechanism 6 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, a concave portion 38 is formed at the center of the front end of the horizontal portion 3a of the camera stand 3, and a cylindrical portion 39 formed integrally horizontally is formed on the lower surface of the front end of the lower case 11 of the camera body 2. It is fitted in the recess 38. A screw shaft 40 that constitutes a rotation fulcrum is horizontally inserted into the recess 38 and the cylindrical portion 39, and the screw shaft 40 is
40 a is screwed into a hexagon nut 41 locked inside the camera stand 3. And screw shaft 4
A spring washer 42 and a flat washer 43 are inserted on the head 40b side of 0, and the recess 38 and the cylindrical portion 39
And the mutual pressure bonding surfaces 38a, 3 in the axial direction with the hexagon nut 41.
A pair of O-rings 44 are interposed between 9a and 41a.

Then, the pair of O-rings 44 are compressed by axial tightening by the screw shaft 40 and the hexagon nut 41, and the camera body 2 is mounted on the camera stand 3 against the frictional force of the pair of O-rings 44. On the other hand, it is configured so that it can be freely rotated in the directions of arrows a and b in a vertical plane in a stepless manner, and the camera body 2 can be stationary and stabilized at the rotational position.

At this time, the screw shaft 40, which is the central axis of rotation, is horizontally arranged in the recess 38 formed at the front end of the horizontal portion 3a of the camera stand 3, and the camera body 2 is indicated by the arrow with the screw shaft 40 as the center. By rotating in the directions a and b, the objective lens 4 can be freely tilted in the directions a and b at a wide angle of 90 ° or more.

[Explanation of Substrate and Connector] Next, referring to FIG.
The board and connector incorporated in this digital video camera will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, an analog signal processing board 51, which is a CCD board, is attached to the rear end of the lens barrel 14 in the camera body 2 at a right angle to the optical axis F, and a switch board 52 is provided on the side surface of the chassis 21. It is mounted parallel to the optical axis F. The switch substrate 52 has a zoom switch 53 and a focus switch 5 which are operated by the zoom switch button 34, the focus switch button 35, and the like.
4 etc. are attached.

Next, the digital signal processing board 5 in which the AD conversion circuit and the like are incorporated in the horizontal portion 3a of the camera stand 3.
5 is housed horizontally, and the interface board 56 is housed vertically in the vertical portion 3b.

The digital signal processing board 55 and the interface board 56 are electrically and mechanically connected to each other at a right angle by a plurality of connectors 62, and when the side plate 3c of the camera stand 3 is attached or detached, the digital signal processing is performed. The board 55 and the interface board 56 can be attached and detached in the horizontal portion 3a and the vertical portion 3b in a lateral direction very easily while being integrally connected.

The flexible printed board 57, which is a wiring means for electrically connecting the analog signal processing board 51 and the switch board 52 in the camera body 2 to the digital signal processing board 55, is the camera body 2 and the camera stand. A pair of openings 58, 59 formed in the inner portion of the screw shaft 40 by the concave portion 38 and the cylindrical portion 38 in the tilt mechanism 6 portion which is the connecting portion with the third portion 3 are inserted with a margin in length. , It is wired so that it cannot be seen from the outside.

In addition, at this time, the flexible printed circuit board 57 is wired along the tilt mechanism 6 so that the flexible printed circuit board 57 can be rotated during the rotational movement of the camera body 2 with respect to the camera stand 3 in the directions of the arrows a and b. The stress is hardly applied, and the tilt movement of the objective lens 4 is not hindered.

An output connector 60 having a multi-pin structure for outputting a digital video signal to a video tape recorder (not shown) is mounted on the rear end of the interface board 56, and the vertical portion 3b of the camera stand 3 is provided. It is attached to the rear end 3bb, and the video tape recorder and the output connector 60 are connected by a thick output cable 61.

Therefore, the analog signal processing board 51 is housed in the camera body 2 which is the movable part of the digital video camera, and the digital signal processing board 55 is housed in the camera stand 3 which is the fixed part. , 55, the number of signal lines for electrically connecting them is small, and the flexible printed circuit board 57 has a narrow width and high flexibility, and the tilt of the objective lens 4 in the directions of arrows a and b can be used. Exercise can be done smoothly.

At this time, the thick output cable 61 connected to the output connector 60 of the camera stand 3 has no adverse effect on the tilt movement of the objective lens 4.

[Description of First Pan Mechanism of Video Camera Platform] Next, the first pan mechanism 76 of the video camera platform 71 will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19.

The first pan mechanism 76 is provided on the platform base 72.
A vertical rotation center shaft 79 is attached to an upper part on one end side of the, and a vertical cylindrical boss portion 80 integrally formed with the base end 73b of the rotation arm 73 is inserted into the outer periphery of the rotation center shaft 79 to be rotatably attached. A plastic washer 81 is laid on the outer periphery of the rotation center shaft 79 below the lower end of the boss portion 80 to smooth the rotational movement of the rotation arm 73 in the directions of arrows c and d around the rotation center shaft 79. There is.

The rotary arm 73 is attached to the platform base 72.
In order to click-stop at a constant angle (for example, 30 °) above, three balls 83 and a compression coil spring 83 are attached to the base end 73b of the rotary arm 73, and the outer circumference of the rotation center shaft 79 of the platform base 72 is attached. At a certain angle (eg 3
0 °) intervals and a plurality of positioning holes 84 on the same circumference
Is formed. The three balls 82 and the compression coil spring 83 are held in three vertical cylindrical portions 85 integrally formed with the base end 73b of the rotating arm 73.

Then, when the rotating arm 73 rotates in the directions of arrows c and d, the three balls 82 are sequentially engaged and positioned in the plurality of positioning holes 84 by the compression coil springs 83, thereby positioning the digital video camera 1. It is configured so that the positioning can be performed stably. At the base end 73b of the rotary arm 73, the upper part of the rotation center shaft 79 is sealed with a removable circular lid.

[Explanation of the camera mount of the video camera platform] Next, the camera mount 75 of the video camera platform 71 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The camera mount 75 is made of synthetic resin or the like, and a pair of ribs 87 are integrally formed along the upper portions of the left and right side edges. And these ribs 8
Four horizontal locking claws 88, one pair each in total, are integrally formed on the inner facing surface of 7, and an elastic locking arm 89 is integrally formed at the center of one end side of the camera mounting table 75. Has been done. Further, four elongated holes 90 and locking claws 91 integrally formed at one end of these elongated holes 90 are integrally formed at the four corners of the camera mounting table 75. Further, an elastic push-up arm 92 is integrally formed on one side of the central portion of the camera mount 75.

As shown in FIG. 11, a total of four L-shaped grooves 93, a pair of left and right, are formed at the lower ends of the left and right side surfaces of the horizontal portion 3a of the camera stand 3, and the camera stand 3 is mounted on the camera mounting table 75. By horizontally mounting the camera stand 3 between the pair of ribs 87 against the push-up arm 92 from above and sliding the camera stand 3 horizontally along the ribs 87 in the direction of arrow m in FIG. The L-shaped groove 93 is locked to the locking claw 88, and the locking arm 89 prevents the camera stand 3 from being detached from the camera mounting table 75 by the lifting arm 92. It is configured so that it can be mounted horizontally.

[Description of Second Pan Mechanism for Video Camera Platform] Next, the second pan mechanism 77 of the video camera platform 71 will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21.

In the second pan mechanism 77, the rotary base 74 formed of synthetic resin or the like is attached to the tip 7 of the rotary arm 73.
Vertical mounting screw 95, which is a fulcrum of rotation screwed to 3a
To the upper part of the tip 73a in the horizontal plane by arrows e, f
It is attached so that it can rotate freely. Then, the spacer 96, the O-ring 97, the wave washer 98, the plastic washer 99, etc., which are inserted into the outer periphery of the mounting screw 75, are configured so that an appropriate static friction can be obtained on the rotary table 74.

The rotary table 74 is integrally formed with four bidirectional locking claws 100, and the camera table 75 is mounted.
20 is horizontally inserted on the rotary table 74, and the four bidirectional locking claws 100 are inserted into the four elongated holes 90, and the camera mount table 75 is moved along the elongated holes 90 in FIG. By sliding in the four directions, one end sides of these four bidirectional locking claws 100 are locked onto the four locking claws 91 of the camera mounting table 75, and the camera mounting table 75 is mounted on the rotary table 74. It is configured so that it can be removably attached.

At this time, if the camera mounting table 75 is turned over by 180 °, it can be detachably mounted on the rotary table 74 even from the direction of the arrow n in FIG. Therefore, the mounting direction of the digital video camera which is detachably mounted on the rotary base 74 via the camera mounting base 75 can be reversed by 180 ° in the arrow m direction or the arrow n direction in FIG. A slide guide 101 for supporting the weight of the digital video camera 1 and sliding it on the platform base 72 is attached to the lower surface of the tip 73a of the rotary arm 73.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and various modifications can be made.

[0059]

The digital video camera of the present invention configured as described above has the following effects.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an analog signal processing board in the camera body, which is a movable part in which an optical system having an objective lens is housed and whose direction can be changed with respect to the camera stand, and a fixed part in the camera stand, are provided. Even if the digital signal processing board is separated and the digital signal output connector is attached to the camera stand and a thick cable is used as the digital video signal output cable to the video tape recorder, the thick cable is the objective lens. Since the tilt function etc. is not adversely affected at all, the tilt of the objective lens etc. can be smoothly performed at a wide angle even though it is a digital video camera capable of shooting images with extremely high resolution. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an opening portion is formed inside a coupling portion that rotatably couples the camera body and the camera stand with wiring means for electrically connecting the analog signal processing board and the digital signal processing board. Since it is inserted between them, the appearance is good and the tilt of the objective lens can be smoothly performed while reducing the stress applied to the wiring means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the camera stand is formed in a substantially L shape, and the camera body is rotatably attached to an upper portion of the horizontal portion of the camera stand, and digital signal processing is performed inside the horizontal portion of the camera stand. Since the board is placed and the interface board with the connector is placed inside the vertical part of the camera stand, the electrical connection between the analog signal processing board inside the camera body and the digital signal processing board inside the camera stand Wiring can be done easily and the output of digital video signals from the connector of the camera stand to the video tape recorder can be done easily.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the digital signal processing board and the interface board are connected to each other at right angles by the connector. Therefore, both boards can be easily assembled and disassembled with respect to the camera stand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a digital video camera for explaining an embodiment of a video camera device for a computer to which the present invention is applied,
It is the perspective view which showed the whole camera stand and the platform for video cameras.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a digital video camera is mounted on a monitor television by a platform for a video camera.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a pan function of the digital video camera of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a tilt function of the digital video camera of FIG.

FIG. 5: The video camera platform of FIG. 2 is inverted 180 °,
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where the objective lens of the digital video camera is closed by a shutter.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the camera body showing a shutter housed state.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the camera body showing a state where a shutter is pulled out.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the camera body showing a state where the objective lens is closed by a shutter.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state where a camera body, a front panel, and a shutter are disassembled.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state where the upper and lower cases of the camera body and the optical system are disassembled.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a camera stand and a tilt mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a front view and a rear view of the entire digital video camera.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a left side view of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a right side view of FIG.

16 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view taken along the line AA in FIG. 12A for explaining the tilt mechanism.

17 is a sectional front view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of an essential part for explaining the first pan mechanism.

19 is a cross-sectional plan view taken along the line CC of FIG.

FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a camera mounting table and a second pan mechanism.

FIG. 21 is a sectional side view in the completed state of assembly in FIG. 20.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 digital video camera 2 camera body 3 camera stand 3a horizontal part of camera stand 3b vertical part of camera stand 6 tilt mechanism (coupling part) 51 analog signal processing board 52 switch board 55 digital signal processing board 56 interface board 57 flexible printed board ( Wiring means) 58, 59 Opening 60 Digital video signal output connector 61 Digital video signal output cable 62 Connector

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A camera main body having an optical system having an objective lens housed therein, a camera stand to which the camera main body is changeably attached, and an analog signal processing board arranged in the camera main body. A digital signal processing board disposed in the camera stand and electrically connected to an analog signal processing board in the camera body; and a digital video signal output connector mounted on the camera stand. A digital video camera featuring. 2. A wiring means for electrically connecting the analog signal processing board and the digital signal processing board, between the openings formed inside a connecting portion for rotatably connecting the camera body and the camera stand. The digital video camera according to claim 1, wherein the digital video camera is inserted into 3. The camera stand is formed in a substantially L shape, and the camera body is rotatably mounted on an upper portion of a horizontal portion of the camera stand, and the digital signal is provided inside the horizontal portion of the camera stand. The digital video camera according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a processing board is arranged, and an interface board to which the connector is connected is arranged inside a vertical portion of the camera stand. 4. The digital video camera according to claim 3, wherein the digital signal processing board and the interface board are connected at right angles by a connector.