JPH0969968A - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To provide an electronic still camera that is small, lightweight, thin, inexpensive to manufacture, and has multiple functions. A camera body 2, a storage medium 3, a liquid crystal display device, and a modem card, each of which includes a card body,
The electronic still camera 1 is configured with the attachment 4 to which these card bodies are selectively mounted. The attachment 4 is a C that transfers image data between two card bodies.
It has a built-in PU38. The camera body 2 and the storage medium 3 are attached at the time of shooting, and the image data on the camera body 2 side is stored in the memory of the storage medium 3. When the storage medium 3 and the liquid crystal display device are mounted, the image data stored in the storage medium 3 is transferred to the liquid crystal display device and displayed. When the storage medium 3 and the modem card are mounted and the modem card and the telephone are connected by a cable, the image data stored in the storage medium 3 is transferred using the telephone line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic still camera that stores an image captured by an image sensor in a storage medium such as a flash memory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an electronic still camera in which a subject image captured by an image pickup device is converted into a digital signal and stored in a storage medium such as a flexible disk or a memory card. In such an electronic still camera, a storage medium in which an image is stored by shooting is taken out of the camera after shooting, and is inserted into a slot of a personal computer, or communication such as RS-232C is performed between the electronic still camera and the personal computer. Image signals written in a storage medium have been taken into an external device such as a personal computer by connecting with an interface.

[0003]

In the conventional electronic still camera as described above, the storage medium is removed from the camera and reinserted in the personal computer, or the camera and the personal computer are connected by a communication cable. There is a problem that the connection with the personal computer is complicated. In particular, when connecting with a communication cable, it is necessary to have dedicated driver software for receiving data on the computer side, and of course a dedicated cable must be prepared, so equipment is increased and storage etc. Not only is it inconvenient, but the work of connecting with a cable is troublesome even for those who are used to using electronic devices.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and the purpose thereof is to be small, lightweight, thin and inexpensive to manufacture, and to have multiple functions. It is to provide an enabled electronic still camera.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a camera body having an outer shape that can be inserted into a PC card slot of an external device, and an outer shape that can be inserted into the PC card slot. A storage medium having the same and an attachment having a plurality of slots, in which the camera body and the storage medium are simultaneously mounted or the storage medium and another card body are simultaneously mounted, the camera body is provided with an object to be imaged. For an image sensor that converts an optical information signal from a light source into an electric signal, a signal processing circuit that converts an output signal of the image sensor into an image signal, a power supply, and a PC card connectable to a connector in a PC card slot of an external device A memory provided with a connector for storing image signals in the storage medium, and a PC card connector connectable to the connector in the PC card slot A PC card interface circuit for performing communication between the memory and a PC card interface of an external device is provided, and a plurality of cards to which the camera body, a PC card connector for a storage medium, and other card bodies can be connected to the attachment. It is characterized in that it has a connector, a power supply, and a CPU for transferring image signals between two card bodies mounted on the attachment. Also,
The present invention is characterized in that the other card body is a liquid crystal display device for displaying an image signal in the storage medium. Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the other card body is a modem card for transferring the image signal in the storage medium to the telephone line.

In the present invention, if the camera body and the storage medium are mounted on the attachment at the time of photographing, the image signal on the camera body side is transferred to the memory in the storage medium. By inserting the storage medium into a PC card slot of an external device such as a personal computer or a PC card drive device connected to the personal computer, communication is performed between the PC card interface of the external device and the storage medium, and the storage medium The image signal written in can be read from an external device. By attaching the storage medium to the attachment and the liquid crystal display device as another card body, the image signal of the storage medium can be read out to the liquid crystal display device. When a modem card is attached as another card body, image signals can be transferred using the telephone line.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a camera body and a storage medium are mounted, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the camera, and FIG. 3 is a storage medium and a liquid crystal display device mounted. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a storage medium and a modem card are mounted, and FIG.
It is a figure which shows a mode that it inserts in a C card slot. In these figures, 2 is a camera body for taking a subject image,
3 is a card-type storage medium, 4 is an attachment, 5 is a liquid crystal display device that is detachably attached to the attachment 4 together with the storage medium 3, and 6 is a modem card that is also detachably attached to the attachment 4 together with the storage medium 3. ,
These constitute the electronic still camera 1. 7
Is a personal computer as an external device having a PC card slot 8 on the side surface, and the storage medium 3 is inserted into the PC card slot 8.

The camera body 2 has a PCMCIA (Personal) external shape made of plastic and a thin metal plate.
Computer Memory Card International Association)
/ JEIDA (Japan Electronic Industry Developmen
t Association) standard IC memory card or I /
Type I in O card (hereinafter referred to as PC card)
A PC card body that can be inserted into the slot 9 of the attachment 4 is formed by having a shape that meets any of the dimensional standards of I, III, and IV or a shape that conforms to this standard.

In the present embodiment, the length is 85.6 ± 0.2 m due to the type II dimensional standard.
Although the card body has m, a width of 54.0 ± 0.1 mm, and a thickness of 5 mm, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the card body is formed longer than the type II shape in the slot insertion direction, The slot loading section 2a that satisfies the type II dimensional standard for the portion of the attachment 4 inserted into the slot 9
Alternatively, the unloaded portion 2b may be formed in a thick block shape so as to project to the surface side of the slot loaded portion 2a. When such a block-shaped unloaded portion 2b is integrally provided, the optical system unit 10, the battery and the like can be easily incorporated.

The inside of such a camera body 2 is shown in FIG.
An optical system unit required for shooting or memory, as shown in
Various circuits, power supplies, connectors, etc. are stored. That is, in the figure, 12 is an image pickup lens, 13 is a complementary color filter, 14 is a CCD element as an image pickup element for converting the light passing through the image pickup lens 12 into an electric signal, and these constitute the optical system unit 10. ing. 15 is CC
A / which converts the output signal of the D element 14 into digital data
A D conversion circuit, 16 is a signal processing circuit that converts the digital data from the A / D conversion circuit 15 into an image signal, and 17 is an image compression circuit that compresses the image signal output from the signal processing circuit 16.

Further, 18 is a CPU for controlling the electronic still camera 1, 20 is a bus, and 22 is the PCMCIA /
A PC card connector defined by the JEIDA standard,
This connector 22 is 68 specified by the PC card standard.
It is composed of a pin connector and is provided at the tip of the slot loading portion 2a of the camera body 2. Then, the PC card connector 22 is connected to the connector 23 provided inside the attachment 4.

The storage medium 3 includes the signal processing circuit 16
Alternatively, the image signal output from the image compression circuit 17 is stored, and the personal computer 7 is used after shooting.
So that it can be inserted into the PC card slot 8 of a PCMCIA / JEIDA standard IC memory card or type I, II, II.
A PC card body is formed by being formed into a shape that satisfies either the I or IV dimensional standard or a shape that conforms to this.

In the present embodiment, the length is 85.6 ± 0.2 m due to the type II dimensional standard.
m, the width is 54.0 ± 0.1 mm, and the thickness is 5 mm. Thereby, the personal computer 7 can be directly inserted into the PC card slot 8. Also,
One end of the storage medium 3 has a PCMC like the camera body 2.
P consisting of 68 pins specified by IA / JEIDA standard
By providing the C card connector 26, a connection portion with the attachment 4 or the personal computer 7 is formed. The connector 26 is a connector 2 in the attachment 4 and the personal computer 7.
7 and 28 can be connected.

Inside such a storage medium 3, a flash memory or static RAM for storing image signals is provided.
A memory 30 including (SRAM) and a PC card interface circuit 31 are housed. This PC card interface circuit 31 is the same as the above-mentioned PCMIA / JE.
A protocol conversion process between the IC memory card interface or I / O card interface (hereinafter referred to as a PC card interface) of the IDA standard and the memory 30 is performed.

1 to 4, the attachment 4 is formed in a box shape having one side surface and an upper surface in the longitudinal direction opened by a plate 33 made of plastic and a transparent cover 34, and two slots 9 (9a, 9b). have. The upper slot 9 a is provided on the upper surface side of the plate 33 and is open above the attachment 4. The lower slot 9b is provided on the lower surface side of the plate 33, and is prevented from falling off by the transparent cover 33. The depth of the slot 9 is shorter than the length of the card body so that the card body to be inserted can be easily removed. In addition, a hollow power source accommodating portion 4A made of a cube protruding to the front and back surfaces of the plate 33 is provided on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the plate 33.
Are provided integrally. Inside the power storage unit 4A, a power source 36, a CPU 38 for transferring an image signal between two card bodies mounted on the attachment 4, a release switch 21 operated by operating a release button 11, and the above-mentioned The connectors 23 and 27 are incorporated, and the front and back surfaces are provided with the release button 11, various operation buttons 39, a display unit (not shown) for displaying the number of remaining shots, and the like. The connectors 23 and 27 are provided corresponding to the slots 9a and 9b. As the operation button 39, a power switch, an image signal compression rate change button, an initialization button of the storage medium 3, an image signal rewind button, and the like can be considered. On the other hand, on the other end side of the plate 33, the slot 9 is formed together with the plate 33.
Is integrally provided with a guide 40 that forms the opening.
The guide 40 is formed in a rectangular frame-shaped body having substantially the same shape as the outer shape of the power source storage portion 4A, and the central portions of both ends are the plate 3.
3 are connected to both side surfaces of the tip portion. The release button 11 is not limited to the attachment 4 and may be provided on the camera body 2 side.

The liquid crystal display device 5 is used when displaying an image signal stored in the storage medium 3, and its external shape is a type II size in an IC memory card or an I / O card of the PCMCIA standard. By conforming to the standard or conforming to this standard,
A PC card body is formed and can be inserted into the slot 9 a of the attachment 4. Therefore, the liquid crystal display device 5
A connector 42 that can be connected to the connector 23 is provided at the end of the slot insertion side.

The modem card 6 is composed of a modulator that functions to put a digital signal on a transmission line as a carrier wave, and a demodulator that functions to restore the signal of the transmission line to a digital signal, and stores it. It is used when transferring the image signal stored in the medium 3 using a telephone line. The modem card 6 also has a contour shape that satisfies the type II dimensional standard of the PCMCIA standard IC memory card or I / O card, or conforms to this standard to form a PC card body,
It can be inserted into the slot 9a of the attachment 4. Therefore, a connector 43 connectable to the connector 23 is provided at the end of the modem card 6 on the slot insertion side, and a connector 45 provided at the other end of the cable 44 for connecting the modem card 6 to a telephone. Is provided with a connector 46. It should be noted that both side surfaces of the camera main body 2, the storage medium 3, the liquid crystal display device 5, and the modem card 6 forming the PC card body in the slot insertion direction have different shapes on the left and right sides to prevent erroneous insertion. As the attachment 4, the depth dimension of the slot 9 may be reduced so that only the connection ends of the camera body 2, the storage medium 3, the liquid crystal display device 5, and the modem card 6 are inserted.

Next, the operation of the electronic still camera 1 will be described. When shooting, as shown in FIG. 1, the camera body 2 and the storage medium 3 are connected to the slot 9 of the attachment 4.
And the PC card connectors 22 and 26 are connected to the connectors 23 and 27, respectively. Camera body 2
When the storage medium 3 is attached to the attachment 4, the CPU 38 of the attachment 4 causes the camera body 2 and the storage medium 3 to move.
Is connected to the attachment 4, and if so, the power source 36 is connected to the camera body 2. On the other hand, the CPU 18 on the camera body 2 side makes the camera body 2 ready for photographing.

When the release button 11 is operated and the release switch 21 is operated, the light from the image pickup object which has passed through the image pickup lens 12 emits light from the complementary color filter 1 of the CCD element 14.
By 3, the light is separated into a Ye (yellow) color light component, a Cy (cyan) color light component, a Mg (magenta) color light component, and a G (green) color light component. Then, it is converted into an electric signal by the pixels of the CCD element 14 corresponding to the respective color filters of Ye, Cy, Mg and G. Thus, the color signals Ye, C from the CCD element 14
y, Mg, and G are output.

The A / D conversion circuit 15 receives these color signals Y
e, Cy, Mg, and G are each converted into digital data.
Then, for example, DSP (Digital Signal Processor)
The signal processing circuit 16 consisting of generates an image signal from these digital data. The image signal in the present embodiment is derived from a luminance signal Y generated by color conversion, which is one of the processes of the DSP, a red signal R minus the luminance signal Y (color difference signal) RY, and a blue signal B. Luminance signal Y
Is obtained (color difference signal) BY.

In addition to the color conversion, the processing of the signal processing circuit 16 also performs pixel interpolation, horizontal / vertical contour enhancement, and γ (gamma) correction. Therefore, the signal processing circuit 16 is
After performing these processes, the image signal is converted into an image compression circuit 1.
Output to 7. Then, the image compression circuit 17 temporarily stores the image signal output from the signal processing circuit 16 in an internal memory (not shown), and then JPEG (Joint
Photographic Experts Group) format compression processing. In this embodiment, a complementary color type is used for the color filter 13 of the CCD element 14, but R (red) and G are used.
A three-primary color filter of (green) or B (blue) may be used. In this case, R, G, B obtained by the CCD element 14
The image signal may be generated by the signal processing circuit 16 from the three primary color signals.

In the operation of the release button 11, when the release button 11 is first lightly pressed, the CPU 18
Controls the CCD element 14, the A / D conversion circuit 15, the signal processing circuit 16, and the image compression circuit 17 so that the image compression circuit 1
The above-described operation for loading the image signal into the memory 7 is performed. Then, based on the brightness level of the image signal before compression, the CCD is adjusted so that the image has the optimum brightness.
The signal storage time of the element 14 is adjusted.

When the release button 11 is pushed deeper, the CPU 18 causes the memory of the image compression circuit 17 to capture the image signal according to the adjusted signal storage time. This data is the regular data that is taken in with the operation of the release button 11. In this way, in the electronic shutter operation of the CCD element 14 for reading out only the signal charges during the signal storage time, the image signal having the optimum brightness can be obtained by adjusting the signal storage time.

Subsequently, the CPU 18 reads out the image signal compressed in the JPEG format from the image compression circuit 17, and the data can be used in a personal computer equipped with MS-DOS, which is a kind of OS (Operating System), for example. In addition, DOSFAT (Disk Operating Sys
tem file allocation table) in a predetermined area of the memory 30 in the storage medium 3. In this way, each time the release button 11 is pressed, writing of the compressed image signal to each area of the memory 30 is repeated, and a plurality of image signals are stored.

Next, when the photographing is completed, the storage medium 3 is taken out from the attachment 4 and inserted into the PC card slot 8 of the personal computer 7 as shown in FIG.
The PC card connector 26 is connected to the connector 28 in the PC card slot 8. When the storage medium 3 is attached to the PC card slot 8, the personal computer 7 accesses the memory 30 in the storage medium 3 via an internal PC card interface (PC card controller) (not shown), and the image stored in the memory 30 is accessed. Read the signal. At this time, the PC card interface circuit 31 of the storage medium 3 performs protocol conversion processing between the memory 30 and the PC card interface in the personal computer 7, and enables communication between the memory 30 and the personal computer 7. .

The protocol conversion process differs depending on the specifications of the PC card interface between the PC card interface circuit 31 and the personal computer 7. For example, when the memory 30 is a flash memory, if the above specifications are ATA (AT Attachment) specifications, it becomes ATA flash memory conversion, and the above specifications are AIMS (AutoIn
If the specifications are dexing mass storage, AIMS-flash memory conversion is performed.

In this way, the image signal obtained by the electronic still camera 1 can be used by the personal computer 7. Although the image signal is compressed by the image compression circuit 17 in the present embodiment, the memory 30
When the number of recorded image signals to be written in is small, the image signals before compression may be written in the memory 30 as they are. Further, although the personal computer 7 is taken as an example of the external device for reading the image signal, a PC card drive device equipped with a PC card slot may be used.
The data read by the card drive device is transferred to the personal computer. Further, although the output signal of the image sensor 14 is converted into a digital signal and stored in the memory, it may be stored as an analog signal by using a semiconductor memory or the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the liquid crystal display device 5 is attached to the attachment 4 instead of the camera body 2 after photographing, the image signal stored in the storage medium 3 by the CPU 38 is transferred to the liquid crystal display device 5. You can Therefore, in this case, the photographed image can be confirmed immediately after the photographing.

As shown in FIG. 4, the storage medium 3 and the modem card 6 are attached to the attachment 4 and the cable 4
When the modem card 6 and the telephone are connected by 4, the CP
The image signal stored in the storage medium 3 by U38 can be transferred using a telephone line.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of processing by a combination of PC card bodies in such an electronic still camera. In the figure, when two card bodies are mounted, the mounted card bodies are discriminated in step 101, and when the card bodies are the storage medium 3 and the liquid crystal display device 5, as shown in step 102. Through 107, a series of processes are performed to transfer the image signal in the storage medium 3 to the liquid crystal display device 5. When the two card bodies are the camera body 2 and the storage medium 3, a series of processes are performed by steps 108 to 112 as indicated by, and the image signal on the camera body 2 side is stored in the memory 30 in the storage medium 3. Remember. On the other hand, when the two card bodies are the storage medium 3 and the modem card 6, as shown by, steps 113 to
A series of processing is performed by 118, and the image signal in the storage medium 3 is transferred to the telephone line via the modem card 6.

[0031]

As described above, according to the electronic still camera of the present invention, the camera body has a contour shape that can be inserted into the PC card slot of the external device, and the contour shapes that can be inserted into the PC card slot. A storage medium having a shape, a plurality of slots, and an attachment in which the camera body and the storage medium are simultaneously mounted in these slots, or the storage medium and another card body are simultaneously mounted,
In the camera body, an image pickup device for converting an optical information signal from an image pickup target into an electric signal, a signal processing circuit for converting an output signal of the image pickup device into an image signal, a power supply, and a PC of an external device.
A PC card connector connectable to a connector in the card slot is provided, and a memory for storing image signals in the storage medium, a PC card connector connectable to the connector in the PC card slot, the memory and an external device. A PC card interface circuit for communicating with the PC card interface of the apparatus is provided, and the attachment includes the camera body, a PC card connector for a storage medium, and a plurality of connectors to which other card bodies can be connected. ,
Since the CPU for transferring the image signal between the power supply and the two card bodies attached to the attachment is provided, the PC card of the external device such as the personal computer or the PC card drive device connected to the personal computer as the storage medium. It can be inserted into the slot, eliminating the need for dedicated driver software when connecting the camera to an external device with a communication cable. As a result, the external device can read data from the storage medium in the same manner as a flexible disk or a magnetic disk. Also, by attaching a storage medium and a liquid crystal display device to the attachment, it is possible to display the image taken at the shooting site on the liquid crystal display device,
Further, when a modem card and a storage medium are attached to the attachment, image signals stored in the storage medium can be transferred using a telephone line, and a multifunctional camera can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an electronic still camera according to the present invention with a camera body and a storage medium attached.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the camera.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a storage medium and a liquid crystal display device are mounted.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a storage medium and a modem card are mounted.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how a storage medium is inserted into a PC card slot of a personal computer.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the camera body.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the camera.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Electronic still camera, 2 ... Camera body, 3 ... Storage medium, 4 ... Attachment, 5 ... Liquid crystal display device, 6 ... Modem card, 7 ... Personal computer, 8 ... PC card slot, 9 ... Slot, 12 ... Imaging lens , 14 ...
CCD element, 15 ... A / D conversion circuit, 16 ... Signal processing circuit, 17 ... Image compression circuit, 18 ... CPU, 20 ... Bus,
22 ... PC card connector, 23 ... connector, 26 ...
PC card connector, 27 ... Connector, 30 ... Memory, 31 ... PC card interface circuit, 36 ... Power supply, 38 ... CPU.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A camera body having an outer shape that can be inserted into a PC card slot of an external device, a storage medium having an outer shape that can be inserted into the PC card slot, and a plurality of slots. And an attachment in which the camera body and the storage medium are simultaneously mounted in the slot of or the storage medium and another card body are mounted at the same time, and the camera body is provided with an image sensor for converting an optical information signal from an imaging target into an electric signal. , A signal processing circuit for converting an output signal of the image pickup device into an image signal, a power supply, and a PC of an external device
A PC card connector connectable to the connector in the card slot is provided, and a memory for storing image signals in the storage medium;
A PC card connector connectable to a connector in the C card slot and a PC card interface circuit for performing communication between the memory and a PC card interface of an external device are provided, and the attachment includes the camera body and a memory. Medium P
C card connector, multiple connectors to which other card bodies can be connected, power supply, and attachment to the attachment 2
An electronic still camera having a CPU for transferring image signals between two card bodies. 2. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the other card body is a liquid crystal display device for displaying an image signal in a storage medium. 3. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the other card body is a modem card for transferring an image signal in the storage medium to a telephone line.