JPH11142923A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera incorporating a stroboscope pop-up mechanism capable of improving operability by increasing the degree of freedom of design for the arrangement of a pop-up operation member. SOLUTION: A turning ring 14 fitting on a lens barrel 4, linked with the operation of the pop-up operation member 16 is turned and this turn is transmitted to a locking lever 11. This locking lever 11 normally restrains a stroboscope casing 6 incorporating a strobe light emitting part, in a housing position P6 A and the restraining by the locking lever 11 is released by the above-mentioned turn. Then, the stroboscope casing 6 is popped up to a pop-up position P6 B for making irradiation with strobe light possible. For housing the stroboscope casing 6, the casing 6 is pressed in the direction of F0 and tuned up to the housing position P6 A, to be restrained by the locking lever 11 and held in the housing position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera having a built-in mechanism for operating an operation member to pop up a flash unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a mechanism for popping up a strobe light emitting portion, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-31 has been proposed.
No. 633 discloses an access mechanism for a built-in strobe light emitting unit in a single-lens reflex camera. 6 and 7 are central longitudinal cross-sectional views on a vertical plane including a photographing optical axis of a main part of the single-lens reflex camera to which the above-mentioned access mechanism is applied,
The strobe storage state and the ascending state are shown.

[0003] In the above-mentioned strobe light emitting / retracting mechanism, when the strobe housing 114 accommodating the strobe light emitting unit is stored in the strobe housing storage chamber 116 of the camera housing 112, as shown in FIG. Stop lever 138
Hook 140 is engaged with the pin 120 of the flash housing 114 to prevent the flash housing 114 from jumping out due to the urging force of the tension spring 128.

Then, when the photographer pushes down the operation projection 158 downward, the slider 154 and the pin 156 are pushed down integrally, and the connecting member 146 rotates clockwise. The rotation causes the locking lever 138 to rotate counterclockwise, disengaging the hook 140 from the pin 120,
The leg lever 118 rotates counterclockwise by the urging force of the tension spring 128, and the strobe housing 114 is moved to the storage chamber 116.
From the front and diagonally upward and forward, and the strobe is raised as shown in FIG. When storing the flash housing 114,
When the front surface of the strobe housing 114 is pushed in the direction of the arrow, the strobe is housed as shown in FIG.

In this access mechanism, a strobe housing 1 is provided.
14, the leg cover 118, the tension spring 128, the locking lever 138, and the like correspond to a pop-up mechanism, and the combination of the operation protrusion 158 and the slider 154 corresponds to a pop-up operation member. It is considered that a portion in which the 148 and the spring 152 and the like are connected to the pop-up operating member and the pop-up mechanism, and correspond to a pop-up interlocking member that transmits the movement of the pop-up operating member to the pop-up mechanism.

[0006]

However, in the type of the access mechanism of the built-in strobe light emitting unit disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-31633, the movement of the pop-up operation member is surely controlled by the pop-up mechanism. In order to make the strobe housing pop up smoothly by transmitting the light, it is necessary to reduce backlash, falling, and bending of the pop-up interlocking member. Therefore, the shape of the pop-up interlocking member tends to be large.

On the other hand, miniaturization of the entire camera is an indispensable requirement, and in order to achieve this, it is natural that the pop-up interlocking member must also be miniaturized. There is a need to shorten the length of the path to be transmitted to the mechanism, or to position the interlocking member in a vacant portion in advance.

Therefore, the pop-up operating member must be arranged in the vicinity of the pop-up mechanism, or an arrangement in which the operability of the operating member is sacrificed must be adopted. As a result, the degree of freedom in designing the arrangement of the pop-up operating member is reduced. There has been a problem that it is difficult to secure good operability of the pop-up operation member due to the narrowing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing points, and has increased the degree of freedom in designing the arrangement of a pop-up operation member of a strobe, and optimized the arrangement of the operation member, thereby improving operability. It is an object to provide a camera incorporating a possible strobe pop-up mechanism.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera capable of popping up a strobe housing from a non-irradiation position to an irradiation-possible position. A rotating ring provided rotatably with respect to the unit, and an operating member for popping up the strobe housing by driving the rotating ring, wherein the strobe housing is provided with the operating member. By operating, the turning ring can be turned to hop up.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the camera according to the first aspect, the rotating ring is fitted to one of the lens barrel and a camera body connecting the lens barrel. I have.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera capable of popping up a strobe housing from a non-irradiation position to an irradiation-possible position, wherein the strobe housing is rotated with respect to an outer peripheral portion of a lens barrel accommodating a taking lens. A rotatable ring that is provided, an operating member that pops up the strobe housing by driving the rotatable ring, and switch means that turns on and off in conjunction with the operation of the operating member. By operating the operating member, the strobe housing can be turned up by rotating the rotating ring, and the switch means is turned on and off with the operation of the operating member.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a single-lens reflex camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention in a vertical plane parallel to a shooting optical axis. FIG. 2 is a diagram when FIG. 1 is viewed from a direction A (subject side). It is principal part sectional drawing of.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a housing 5 forming a part of the camera body (hereinafter, referred to as a B body) 3 is fixed to a camera body (hereinafter, referred to as a B body). A lens barrel 4 for a photographing optical system is fixed to the lens, and a pentaprism 1 for the finder optical system is fixed via a finder body (hereinafter, referred to as an F body) 2.

As a strobe hop-up mechanism of the present camera, a strobe housing 6 and a strobe storage chamber 7 are provided on the camera housing 5 in front of the pentaprism 1. The strobe housing 6 houses therein a strobe light emitting portion 6a made of a xenon tube, reflection gas, and dustproof glass. The camera housing 5 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 8, and is urged clockwise by an unillustrated urging spring, and is a strobe non-irradiation position stored in the storage chamber 7. It is rotatable from a position P6A to a pop-up position P6B at which strobe irradiation is possible.

As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 2, the strobe housing 6 is formed with a claw portion 6b. Below the strobe housing 6, a locking lever 11, which is a locking means having a hook 11a engageable with the claw portion 6b, is rotatable by a shaft 10 supported by the camera housing 5. Supported. Then, the locking lever 11 is connected to the tension spring 1.
3 urges in the hook locking position direction. Claw 6b of strobe housing 6 and hook 11 of locking lever 11
When a is engaged, the strobe housing 6 is at the storage position P6A stored in the storage chamber 7.

The leg portion 11b of the locking lever 11 is inserted into the long hole 5b of the camera housing 5 and is fitted into the upper fitting hole 14b of the rotating ring 14. When rotated, the locking lever 11 is simultaneously driven to rotate. The rotating ring 14 is supported in a state where the inner diameter portion is rotatably fitted to the outer diameter portion of the lens barrel 4 fixed and supported by the B body 3.

A strobe pop-up operation member (hereinafter, referred to as a pop-up operation member) 16 having an operation portion 16a for pop-up operation of the strobe housing 6 is inserted from the outside through a long hole 5a of the camera housing 5, and Leg 16
b fits into the lower fitting hole 14a of the rotating ring 14. The operation unit 16a of the pop-up operation member 16 is exposed outside the lower part of the camera housing 5, and can be operated by a user.

By operating the operation unit 16a in the direction of arrow D0, the pop-up operation member 16 is moved to the camera housing 5.
Moving upward, the rotating ring 14 rotates counterclockwise. The rotation causes the locking lever 11 to move in the clockwise arrow direction E0.
To the position shown by the two-dot chain line.
Can be released.

Next, the hop-up operation of the strobe hop-up mechanism in the camera according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. When the flash housing 6 is at the storage position P6A where the flash housing 6 is stored in the flash storage chamber 7, the hook 11a of the locking lever 11 is engaged with the claw portion 6b of the flash housing 6. Therefore, the flash housing 6 urged clockwise by an urging spring (not shown) is prevented from popping up from the storage chamber 7.

When the user operates the operating portion 16a of the pop-up operating member 16 to move the operating portion 16a in the direction of the arrow D0 in FIG.
, The rotating ring 14 rotates around the outer periphery of the lens barrel 4 counterclockwise in the same direction as the arrow direction D0.

Since the leg 11b of the locking lever 11 is fitted into the upper fitting hole 14b of the rotating ring 14, the rotating ring 1
4 rotates through the upper fitting hole 14b so that the locking lever 11 rotates.
And the locking lever 11 rotates about the support shaft 10 in the direction of the arrow E0.

When the locking lever 11 is rotated in the direction of the arrow E0, the hook 11a and the claw 6b are disengaged from each other, and the flash housing 6 is moved by the urging force of an urging spring (not shown).
, The strobe housing 6 protrudes upward from the strobe storage chamber 7 and turns to a hop-up position P6B where strobe irradiation is possible. Thereafter, when the user releases the operating portion 19 of the pop-up operating member 16, the locking lever 11 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow direction E 0 by the urging force of the tension spring 13. The rotating ring 1
4 also rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow direction D0, and the pop-up operation member 16 also rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow direction D0.
Return to the original position.

Note that the strobe housing 6 is connected to the strobe storage room 7.
The strobe housing 6 in the direction of arrow F0.
And the claw portion 6b is locked to the hook 11a of the locking lever 11 to move the strobe housing 6 to the storage position P6A.
Can be stored.

As described above, according to the strobe hop-up mechanism of the camera of the present embodiment, the pop-up operation member 16 and the strobe housing 6 are connected to the outer diameter portion of the lens barrel as an interlocking member by the inner diameter portion. The movement of the pop-up operating member is transmitted to the strobe housing 6 by being connected to the rotating ring into which the is fitted via the locking lever, so that the distance between the strobe housing and the strobe pop-up operating member and the pop-up The strobe pop-up mechanism can be arranged without being restricted by the arrangement space of the connecting member, and the pop-up operation member can be arranged at an optimum position that is easy to operate.

As a modification of the rotating ring 14 in the camera of the first embodiment, the outer diameter portion 14c of the rotating ring 14 shown in FIGS. It is possible to propose a rotating ring that is rotatably supported in combination. Even when this modification is applied, the same effect as the strobe pop-up mechanism of the camera of the above embodiment can be obtained.

Next, a flash pop-up mechanism of a camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the strobe pop-up mechanism of the camera of the present embodiment, a switch brush piece for a power switch of the camera is fixed to the pop-up operation member, and the switch is turned on / off in conjunction with the pop-up operation of the operation member. In the present embodiment, the power switch is turned on and off. The structure of the locking lever 11 and the strobe housing 6 other than around the pop-up operation member is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 are cross-sectional views showing the operation state around the pop-up operation member in the camera according to the present embodiment, as viewed from the optical axis direction. As shown in the above figures, a switch brush piece 35 is fixed to the tip of the leg 31a of the pop-up operation member 31. A switch board 44, which is an electric board, is fixed to a groove 43a on the outer periphery of the lens barrel 43. The switch brush piece 35 is slidably contacted with the switch board 44, and switching of a switch circuit is performed according to the position of the brush piece 35. Done. Switch board 44
Is connected to, for example, a power switch circuit of the camera, and the power of the camera can be switched on and off depending on the position of the brush piece 35.

The pop-up operation member 31 is provided with a groove 31b into which the click ball 37 is fitted and slides, and a long groove 31c. The click ball 37 is used for the camera housing 3.
6 and is urged by the urging spring 38 toward the pop-up operation member 31.

The leg 31a of the pop-up operation member 31
Is inserted through the elongated hole 36a of the camera housing 36, and further inserted through the elongated hole 41a of the rotating ring 41, thereby forming the groove 43a of the lens barrel 43.
Has been reached.

Next, the operation of the stroboscopic pop-up mechanism of the camera according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. In the state shown in FIG. 3, the pop-up operation member 31 is at the first position P31A, the leg 31a of the pop-up operation member 31 is located near the end surface Z3 of the long hole 41a of the rotating ring 41, and the click ball 37 Is the biasing spring 38
And is fitted in the groove 31b of the pop-up operation member 31. The switch brush piece 35 is in the off position on the switch board 44 and is in a power-off state. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the strobe housing 6 is moved from the position of the pop-up operation member 31 and
1 and held at the storage position P6A.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the user operates the operating member 31 in the direction of arrow D0 to move the click ball 37 to the second position P31B where the click ball 37 contacts the slope Z2 of the long groove 31c. At this time, the switch brush piece 35
Has moved to the on position on the switch board 44, and the power is on. The leg 31a of the pop-up operation member 31 has moved toward the end surface Z4 in the elongated hole 41a of the rotating ring 41, but has not contacted the end surface Z4.
Therefore, the rotating ring 41 is not yet rotated.

In the state shown in FIG. 5, the user operates the pop-up operating member 31 further in the direction of arrow D0 than in the state shown in FIG.
3rd position P which abuts against contact surface Z1 of long hole 36a
It has been moved to 31C. During this movement, the switch brush piece 35 moves on the switch board 44 while being kept on. At the same time, the leg 31a of the pop-up operation member 31 pushes and moves the end surface Z4 of the long hole 41a of the rotating ring 41, so that the rotating ring 41 rotates on the outer peripheral portion of the lens barrel 43 in the direction of arrow D0. 1 and 2 by the rotation.
As shown in (5), the locking of the locking lever 11 is released, the strobe housing 6 moves to the pop-up position P6B, and the strobe can be irradiated.

After the strobe pop-up operation, when the user releases his / her hand from the pop-up operation member 31, the turning ring 41 is moved in the direction of the arrow D0 'by the urging force of the tension spring 13 urging the locking lever 11. The pop-up operation member 31 is moved to the position where the click ball 37 is
The position returns to the second position P31B in contact with the inclined surface Z2 (state of FIG. 4). In this state, the flash housing 6 remains in the pop-up state.

When the above-mentioned pop-up operating member is switched from the state at the second position P31B to the power switch-off state, the user further operates the pop-up operating member 31 in the arrow direction D0 ', and the click ball 37 is moved to the groove portion 3.
It is pulled back to the first position P31A where it is fitted into 1b (the state of FIG. 3). With this operation, the switch brush piece 35 moves to the off position on the switch board 44. Further, in order to store the strobe housing 6 at the storage position P6A, the strobe housing 6 can be stored by pressing the strobe housing 6 from the rear in the arrow direction F0 as shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the strobe pop-up mechanism of the camera of the present embodiment, the pop-up operation member 31 can also be used as a power switch on / off switching operation member. Therefore, the user
The operation of the power switch and the operation of the strobe pop-up can be performed simultaneously with one operation in the same manner as the operation of the power switch, and very excellent operability can be realized.

(Supplementary Note) Based on the above-described embodiment of the present invention, a camera having the following configuration can be obtained. (1) In a camera capable of popping up a strobe housing from a non-irradiation position to an irradiation-possible position, a locking means for locking the strobe housing in the non-irradiation position, and a lens barrel for housing a taking lens A rotating ring which is provided rotatably with respect to the outer peripheral portion of the flash device, and which is rotated in a predetermined direction to release the locking of the locking means and pop up the strobe housing; A camera, comprising: an operation member for operating a driving ring.

(2) The camera according to appendix 1, wherein the rotating ring is fitted to either the lens barrel or a camera body to which the lens barrel is connected.

(3) The camera according to appendix 1, wherein the operation member operates near the outer periphery of the lens barrel on the bottom surface side of the camera body on the front part of the camera body.

(4) In a camera capable of popping up a strobe housing from a non-irradiation position to an irradiation-possible position, a rotation ring provided rotatably with respect to an outer peripheral portion of a lens barrel accommodating a photographing lens. And a control member for driving the rotating ring to pop up the strobe housing.

(5) The camera according to appendix 4, wherein the operating member is disposed on a lower side of the camera main body with respect to an optical axis of the taking lens in the lens barrel.

(6) In a camera capable of popping up a strobe housing from a non-irradiation position to an irradiation-possible position, a rotation ring provided to be rotatable with respect to an outer peripheral portion of a lens barrel accommodating a photographing lens. And the lens barrel, or an electric board provided in a main body to which the lens barrel is connected, and a brush that is in contact with the electric board is provided, and outputs an electric signal by rotating, An operating member for driving a rotating ring to pop up the strobe housing.

(7) The operating member outputs an electric signal by a first rotation, and drives the rotating ring by a second rotation further rotating in the same direction. The described camera.

(8) The camera according to attachment 7, wherein the electric signal is a signal for turning on / off a power supply of the camera.

(9) In a camera provided with a strobe light emitting portion including a strobe housing which moves to a storage position and a light emitting position above a camera, a lens barrel having a photographing lens provided in the camera; A driving unit for positioning the light emitting unit at a light emitting position, an operating member for driving the driving unit on a lower portion of the camera opposite to the strobe light emitting unit across the photographing lens, and the rotating unit; Connecting means for mechanically connecting the operating means,
A camera comprising:

According to the camera, even when the camera is held, the strobe can be immediately shifted to the pop-up state, thereby improving the usability.

The above-mentioned storage position is equivalent to the non-irradiation position of the strobe, and the above-mentioned emission position is a position where irradiation is possible.
Equivalent to the popup position. The driving unit performs a locking operation to prevent the strobe light emitting unit from being positioned at the light emitting position by the spring and a spring for positioning the strobe light emitting unit at the light emitting position, and by operating the operation member, A lock lever for releasing the lock is included. The connecting means is for releasing the locked state of the locking lever in conjunction with the operation of the operating member by being operated, and in the embodiment of the present invention,
The pivot ring hits it. Therefore, as long as the locking lever can be released by operating the operating member, the connecting means may be a string-shaped member.

[0048]

As described in detail above, according to the camera of the first aspect of the present invention, the rotating ring is rotated by the operating member to pop up the strobe housing. The degree of freedom of design for the arrangement of members increases,
By optimizing the arrangement of the pop-up operation members, the operability of the pop-up operation members can be improved.

According to the camera of the second aspect of the present invention,
In addition to the effect of the camera according to the first aspect, since the rotating ring is fitted to the lens barrel or the camera body, space efficiency is good and the strobe pop-up mechanism can be compactly assembled. .

According to the camera of the third aspect of the present invention,
The strobe housing is made to pop up by rotating the rotating ring by the operating member, and furthermore, since the switch is switched by the moving operation of the operating member, the degree of freedom in designing the arrangement of the operating member is increased. By optimizing the arrangement of the pop-up operating member, the operability of the pop-up operating member can be improved, and the switch operation can be performed by operating the operating member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a single-lens reflex camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention, taken on a vertical plane parallel to a photographing optical axis.

FIG. 2 is an essential part cross-sectional view of the camera of FIG. 1 as viewed from a direction A (subject side).

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation state around a pop-up operation member in a camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention, viewed from an optical axis direction, where the pop-up operation member is at a first position (off position). Indicates the status.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an operation state around the pop-up operation member of the camera shown in FIG. 3, viewed from an optical axis direction, showing a state where the pop-up operation member is at a second position (switch-on position).

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an operation state around the pop-up operation member of the camera in FIG. 3, viewed from the optical axis direction, and shows a state where the pop-up operation member is at a third position (pop-up position).

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of an access mechanism of a built-in strobe light emitting unit of a conventional camera, showing a strobe housed state.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of an access mechanism of a built-in strobe light emitting unit of the camera of FIG. 13, showing a strobe pop-up state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4, 43 ... Barrel 6 ... Strobe housing 14, 41 ... Rotating ring 16, 31 ... Pop-up operation member (operation member) P6A ... Storage position (non-irradiation position) P6B ... Pop-up position (irradiation) Possible position)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Kobayashi 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Ryuji Imai 2-43 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A camera capable of popping up a strobe housing from a non-irradiation position to an irradiation-possible position, comprising: a rotation ring rotatably provided with respect to an outer peripheral portion of a lens barrel accommodating a photographing lens. An operation member that pops up the strobe housing by driving the rotating ring. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the rotating ring is fitted into either the lens barrel or a camera body connecting the lens barrel. 3. A camera capable of popping up a strobe housing from a non-irradiation position to an irradiation-possible position, comprising: a rotation ring rotatably provided with respect to an outer peripheral portion of a lens barrel housing a photographing lens. A camera, comprising: an operation member that pops up the strobe housing by driving the rotating ring; and switch means that turns on and off in response to operation of the operation member.