JPH09185103A - Electronic equipment connectors and optical systems - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an electric circuit inside an equipment from being ruptured or hung up by forming a ground terminal to be projected to a device side further than a power source terminal. SOLUTION: Contact terminals on a camera side 4a to 4m are provided on the surface of a camera main body 1. The terminals 4a to 4f are arranged on a finder rail side and the terminals 4g to 4m are arranged on a finder rail side by putting a clearance groove provided on the main body 1 as a boundary. Then, contact terminals on a finder side 5a to 5m are provided on the surface of an interchangeable finder 9. Two terminals near to the finder rail among the terminals 4a to 4m that is, the terminals 4a and 4m on the sides of both ends among plurally arranged contacts are formed to be projected as compared with other terminals 4b to 4l. The terminals 4n and 4m are connected to the ground of a power source circuit part inside the main body 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device connector and an optical system which are optimal for electrically connecting a plurality of optical devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various interchangeable viewfinders that can be attached to and detached from a camera body have been known depending on a user's shooting application. Known types of this interchangeable viewfinder include an eye-level viewfinder as a standard viewfinder, an action viewfinder for long eye point use, a high-power viewfinder for close-up photography, and a waist level viewfinder. . In such various interchangeable viewfinders, a microcomputer has been installed inside with the recent computerization of cameras, and power supply and communication have been performed between the camera body and the interchangeable viewfinder.

As a method of supplying power and communication, an electric circuit provided inside the camera body, for example, a power line,
The camera side contact terminals connected to the ground line, signal line, etc. are provided on the camera body side, and are connected to the electric circuit arranged inside the viewfinder, for example, the power supply line, ground line, signal line, etc. like the camera body side The contact terminal is provided on the exchange finder side. When the replacement finder is attached to the camera body, the camera side contact terminal and the finder side contact terminal are brought into contact with each other so that the electric circuit on the camera body side and the electric circuit on the replacement finder side are electrically connected via each contact terminal. I am trying.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional example has the following problems. Before connecting the camera-side contact terminal that is connected to the ground line of the electric circuit on the camera body and the finder-side contact terminal that is connected to the ground line of the replacement finder-side electric circuit, power on the camera side. When the camera side terminal connected to the line or signal line and the viewfinder side contact terminal connected to the replacement finder power supply line or signal line are connected, the electric circuit inside the camera body or inside the replacement finder is destroyed or hangs up. May cause the condition of.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent the electric circuit inside a device from being destroyed or causing a hang-up condition.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a first aspect of the present invention is a connector for electronic equipment which can be attached to and detached from another device, and which is related to a ground terminal for electrical connection. 4a and 4m) and power supply terminals (4b and 4l) related to the power supply, and the ground terminal (4
a and 4m) are configured to have a shape projecting toward the device side more than the power supply terminals (4b and 4l).

A second invention is a camera system comprising one optical device and the other optical device, wherein one optical device has a ground terminal (5a and 5m) related to a ground for electrical connection. , And a power source terminal (5b and 5l) related to the power source, and the other optical device is capable of contacting with a ground contact (4a and 4m) capable of contacting corresponding to the ground terminal and corresponding to the power source terminal. A plurality of terminals (5a, 5m, 5b, and 5l) of one of the optical devices, each having a power contact (4b and 4l), and a plurality of terminals of the other optical device. The contacts (4a, 4m, 4b, and 4l) are arranged so as to have height differences in the contact direction with the plurality of terminals and are divided into contact heights.
m) is arranged at a position projecting in the contact direction from the power contacts (4b and 4l).

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block connection diagram showing a first embodiment of an electronic device connector and an optical system according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the camera body 1 is provided with a camera-side electric circuit section 101 for controlling a series of sequences associated with photographing by the camera body 1 and for performing various calculations associated with focus detection of a subject. The electric circuit unit 101 is configured by mounting electric components such as a microcomputer, an IC, a resistor, a transistor, and a capacitor on a flexible printed board or a hard printed board arranged in the camera body 1.

The camera side electric circuit section 101 includes a focus detection mechanism section AF1 for detecting a subject image, a sequence mechanism section SQ1 for operating a series of sequences associated with photographing such as diaphragm, shutter speed, film winding, and photographing. A display mechanism section DS1 is connected to inform the person of various photographing information by using a display means such as a liquid crystal display or an LED. As a result, the camera-side electric circuit unit 101 causes the focus detection mechanism unit AF to
1, the camera body 1 is controlled by exchanging signals with the sequence mechanism section SQ1 and the display mechanism section DS1.

The camera body 1 is provided with a power source such as a battery, and a power source circuit section BAT comprising a DC-DC converter for stabilizing and taking out the output of the power source. Camera body 1
The input parts of the electric parts (including the electric parts used in the electric circuit portion 101) provided therein may have different input voltages, so that voltages of different potentials from the power supply circuit portion BAT are stabilized. It has a structure that can be taken out. Further, the camera body 1 has camera-side contact terminals 4a to 4
m is provided. Among the contact terminals 4a to 4m, the contact terminals 4a and 4m are connected to the ground of the power supply circuit unit BAT. Further, the contact terminals 4b and 4l are connected to the power supply circuit section BAT and supply power with a potential different from the other. The contact terminals 4c to 4k are the electric circuit section 1 of the camera body 1.
01, and by connecting to the finder side electric circuit section 201 and the strobe control section SB1 via finder side contact terminals 5c to 5k described later, the camera body 1 and the exchange finder 9 communicate with each other, This is a contact terminal for controlling the strobe connected to the exchange finder 9.

In the interchangeable finder 9, a photometry section AE1 for measuring the brightness of the object, a display mechanism DS2 provided in the interchangeable finder 9, calculation for determining the exposure value of the camera by the output from the photometric section AE1, etc. A viewfinder-side electric circuit unit 201 for performing the operation and controlling the display mechanism DS2 is provided. For the configuration of the finder-side electric circuit unit 201, see the camera-side electric circuit unit 101.
Similar to the configuration described above, a microcomputer, an IC, a transistor, a resistor, a capacitor, and the like are provided on the flexible printed substrate arranged in the exchange finder 9. The exchange finder 9 is provided with finder side contact terminals 5a to 5m corresponding to the camera side contact terminals 4a to 4m. Of the finder side contact terminals 5a to 5m, the contact terminal 5a is connected to the ground line of the finder side electric circuit section 201, the contact terminals 5b and 51 are connected to different power lines of the finder side electric circuit section 201, and 5c to 5g are finder side electric circuits. It is connected to the communication line of the circuit unit 201.

When the brightness of the subject is dark at the time of shooting, the flash light is usually used as the auxiliary light.
Such photographing is referred to as fill light photographing in this specification. In the case of auxiliary light photography, strobe light is made to flash in synchronization with the operation of the shutter, and the flash is stopped when it is determined that the exposure amount on the film surface is appropriate. Such a series of control is performed by the electric circuit section 101 in the camera body 1 and the strobe control section SB1 in the exchange finder 9. In order to exchange signals in control, contact terminals 4h to 4k and ground terminal 4m are provided on the camera body 1 side, and contact terminals 5h to 5k on the exchange finder 9 side.
And a flash ground terminal 5m is provided.
The flash control unit SB1 is provided with synchronized contacts 6a to 6e exposed to the outside of the exchange finder 9 in order to communicate signals with the flash attached to and detached from the exchange finder 9.

2 and 3 are sectional views showing a first embodiment of a connector for electronic equipment and an optical system according to the present invention. 2 is a vertical cross section of the contact terminal 4a of the camera body 1 taken along the optical axis direction, and FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross section of the camera side contact terminals 4a to 4m of the camera body 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a connection state of the camera body 1 and the exchange finder 9.

FIG. 2 shows a vertical cross section of the contact terminal 4a, but for other contacts, the contact terminal 4m is the contact terminal 4a.
It has the same shape as a, and the contact terminals 4b to 4l have the same shape except that the contact terminals have different lengths as described later.

In FIG. 4, the camera body 1 is provided with finder rails 2 and 3. The finder rails 2 and 3 are provided with rail grooves 2a and 3a corresponding to the guide rails 9a and 9b provided on the replacement finder 9, respectively. When mounting the exchange finder 9, the guide rail 9 is inserted into the rail grooves 2a and 3a from the rear of the camera body 1 (the lower right side in FIG. 4).
Insert a and 9b, respectively, and slide the finder 9 forward (upper left side in FIG. 4) of the camera body 1 to the limit (not shown) to engage and attach the lock mechanism (not shown).

On the surface 1s of the camera body 1, camera side contact terminals 4a to 4m are provided. The contact terminals 4a to 4f are arranged on the finder rail 2 side and the contact terminals 4g to 4m are arranged on the finder rail 3 side with the escape groove 1c provided on the camera body 1 as a boundary. On the surface 9s of the exchange finder 9, the finder side contact terminals 5a to
5m is provided. Of the camera side contact terminals 4a to 4m, two contact terminals close to the finder rails 2 and 3, in other words, the contact terminals 4a and 4m on both ends of a plurality of arranged contacts are the other contact terminals 4b.
It has a shape protruding by about 0.5 mm as compared with ~ 4 l. The contact terminals 4a and 4m are connected to the ground of the power supply circuit section inside the camera body 1.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the contact terminal 4a has its rear end portion biased by the contact spring 41a, and its front end portion contacts the finder side contact terminal 5a. Contact spring 4
An end portion (left side in FIG. 2) of 1a is in contact with the contact metal fitting 42a, and electrical continuity is maintained from the contact metal fitting 42a to the contact terminal 4a. The end point of the contact metal fitting 42a (see FIG.
The upper left side) is connected by a solder bridge to a pattern provided on the flexible printed board 31 extended from the camera side control circuit unit 101.

In FIG. 5A, when the replacement finder 9 is attached to the camera body 1, the contact terminals 4a and 4m first come into contact with the finder side contact terminals 5a and 5m to establish a conductive state. At this point, the ground of the electric circuit unit 201 in the finder 9 is connected to the ground of the electric circuit unit 101 in the camera body 1. Next, FIG.
As shown in (b), when the exchange finder 9 slides to the front side (lens side) of the camera, the camera side contact terminals 4b to 4b.
4l and the finder side contact terminals 5b to 5l come into contact with each other and become conductive. At this point, the camera body 1
The ground of the electric circuit section 101 inside and the exchange finder 9
Since the ground of the electric circuit unit 201 in the inside is connected, it is possible to prevent an unexpected voltage from being applied to the electric circuit unit 201 in the finder 9, and it is possible to prevent the electric circuit from being destroyed, malfunctioning, or hanging up. .

Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (c), when the exchange finder 9 is pushed to the limit (not shown), locked (not shown) and mounted on the camera body, the contact terminals 4a-4m are pushed further. Contact springs 41a-4
The finder side contact terminals 5a to 5m are urged by 1 m. Regarding the urging force at this time, normally, if the contact spring is urged at about 20 to 100 grams, a sufficient contact pressure can be secured at the contact terminals, and the contact terminals can be surely conducted. It is possible to In this embodiment, the side where the contact protrudes (pin side) is arranged on the camera body 1 side and the receiving side is arranged on the finder side. However, the same effect can be obtained with the opposite structure. it can.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the connector for electronic equipment and the optical system according to the present invention.
In the figure, the same components as those in FIGS. 1 to 5 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a duplicate description will be omitted.

In FIG. 6, the camera side contact terminals 14a ...
14m is the contact terminals 4a to 4m in FIG. 2 and FIG.
It corresponds to. 2 and 3, the contact terminals 4a and 4m are longer by about 0.5 mm than the contact terminals 4b to 4l, but in the second embodiment, the contact terminals have the same length. It is a composition. Finder side contact terminal 15 corresponding to the contact terminals 14a to 14m
Among the a to 15 m, the contact terminals 15 a and 15 m are arranged on the surface projecting to the camera side contact terminal by about 0.5 mm from the surface on which the other contact terminals 15 b to 151 are arranged.

As shown in FIG. 7A, when the replacement finder 9 is attached to the camera body 1, first the contact terminals 14 are attached.
The a and 14m come into contact with the finder side contact terminals 15a and 15m and become conductive. At this point, the ground of the electric circuit unit 201 in the finder 9 is connected to the ground of the electric circuit unit 101 in the camera body 1. Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the exchange finder 9
Slides to the front side (lens side) of the camera, the camera side contact terminals 14b to 14l and the finder side contact terminal 15
b to 15l come into contact with each other and become conductive. At this point, since the ground of the electric circuit unit 101 in the camera body 1 and the ground of the electric circuit unit 201 in the exchange finder 9 are already connected, an unexpected voltage is applied to the electric circuit unit 201 in the finder 9. It is possible to prevent the breakage, and to prevent a situation such as a breakdown of the electric circuit, a malfunction, or a hang-up.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (c), when the exchange finder 9 is pushed to the limit (not shown), locked (not shown) and mounted on the camera body 1, the contact terminal 1
4a to 14m are further pushed in, and contact springs 41a to 41a to
The finder side contact terminals 15a to 15m are energized by 41m. Contact springs 41a to 41 at this time
The urging force of m is 20 to 10 as in the first embodiment.
A contact pressure of about 0 gr is sufficient.

According to the embodiment described above, when the exchange finder is attached to and detached from the camera body to make an electrical connection, the ground line of the camera body and the exchange finder are first connected, and then the power line or the communication line. Since the connection is made, it is possible to prevent the electric circuit in the camera body or the exchange finder from being destroyed or from causing a hang-up state.

Although the camera body and the interchangeable finder have been described in the above-described embodiments, the invention can be applied to an optical apparatus having a similar structure. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the contact pin is arranged on the camera side, and the contact contacting the contact pin is arranged on the finder side. However, the contact pin is arranged on the finder side. It is also possible to arrange the contact point that comes into contact with the camera side.

[0028]

As described above, according to the connector for electronic equipment of the present invention, the ground terminals (4a and 4m) related to the ground for electrical connection and the power supply terminals (4b and 4l) related to the power supply. ) And a ground terminal (4
Since a and 4m) have a shape projecting toward the device side more than the power supply terminals (4b and 4l), the ground line is connected first when the electronic device is connected. This allows
It is possible to prevent the electric circuit inside the device from being destroyed or causing a hang-up condition.

Similarly, according to the optical system of the present invention,
The plurality of terminals (5a, 5m, 5b, and 5l) of one optical device are formed to have substantially the same length, and the plurality of contacts (4a, 4m, 4b, and 4l) of the other optical device are , A height difference is provided in the contact direction with the plurality of terminals, and the ground contacts (4a and 4m) are arranged at the heights in the contact direction.
It is arranged at a position projecting in the contact direction with respect to l).
This makes it possible to prevent the electric circuit inside the device from being destroyed or causing a hang-up state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block connection diagram showing a first embodiment of an electronic device connector and an optical system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of an electronic device connector and an optical system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of an electronic device connector and an optical system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of an electronic device connector and an optical system according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of an electronic device connector and an optical system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the electronic device connector and the optical system according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the connector for electronic equipment and the optical system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 camera body 1c groove 1s surface 2 finder rail 2a rail groove 3 finder rail 4a camera side ground terminal 4b to 4l camera side contact terminal 4m camera side ground terminal 5a finder side ground terminal 5b to 5l finder side contact terminal 5m finder side ground terminal 6a Synchro contact 9 Exchange finder 9a Guide rail 9s Surface 14a to 14m Camera side contact terminal 15a to 15m Finder side contact terminal 31 Flexible printed circuit board 41a Contact spring 42a Contact fitting 101 Camera side electric circuit section 201 Finder side electric circuit section SQ1 Sequence mechanism Section SB1 Strobe control section AF1 Focus detection mechanism section AE1 Photometric section

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A connector for an electronic device, which is attachable / detachable to / from another device, having a ground terminal related to a ground for electrical connection, and a power supply terminal related to a power supply, A connector for electronic equipment, which has a shape protruding toward the device side from the power supply terminal. 2. The electronic device connector further comprises a communication terminal for communication, and the ground terminal comprises:
The connector for electronic equipment according to claim 1, wherein the connector has a shape protruding toward the device side from the communication terminal. 3. The at least two ground terminals are provided, and the ground terminals are arranged so as to sandwich the other terminal.
The electronic device connector described in. 4. The electronic device connector according to claim 1, wherein the other device is a camera, and the electronic device connector is provided in a removable finder device. 5. The electronic device connector according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device connector is a finder device that is detachable from the other device, and the electronic device connector is provided in a camera. 6. One of the ground terminals is electrically connected to a ground contact of an electric circuit in the detachable viewfinder, and the other of the ground terminals is electrically connected to a ground contact of an electric circuit for controlling a flash device. The connector for electronic equipment according to claim 3, which is connected. 7. A camera system comprising one optical device and the other optical device, wherein the one optical device is a ground terminal related to a ground for electrical connection and a power supply terminal related to a power supply. The other optical device has a ground contact capable of contacting corresponding to the ground terminal, and a power supply contact capable of contacting corresponding to the power supply terminal, a plurality of the one optical device Terminals are formed to have substantially the same length, and the plurality of contacts of the other optical device are divided into heights in the contact direction by providing steps in the height in the contact direction with the plurality of terminals. The optical system is characterized in that the ground contact is disposed at a position projecting in the contact direction with respect to the power contact. 8. The one optical device further comprises a communication terminal for communication, the other optical device further comprises a communication contact capable of contacting corresponding to the communication terminal, and the ground contact comprises: 8. The device is arranged at a position projecting in the contact direction with respect to the communication contact.
The optical system according to. 9. The optical device according to claim 7, wherein the one optical device is a camera body, and the other optical device is a finder device detachable from the camera body. Optical system. 10. The optical device according to claim 7, wherein at least two ground contacts are provided, and the ground contacts are arranged so as to sandwich the other terminal. system. 11. The one optical device is a detachable finder device, and the other optical device is a camera for attaching and detaching the detachable finder device.
The optical system according to.