JPH118792A - Digital camera system that can be integrated with a printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera and a printer detachably and integrally without a connecting cord, and to use a liquid crystal screen of the camera at the time of printing, thereby providing excellent visibility and operability. Provided is a good digital camera system that can be integrated with a printer. A print system integrated with a printer can be formed by sliding a digital camera in an arrow direction with a liquid crystal screen facing upward.
By pressing the power button 9, selecting the playback image with the image advance selection button 10, and pressing the print button 11, the selected captured image can be printed by a simple operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system comprising a printer and a digital camera which can be integrally connected to the printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a digital camera and a printer are generally connected via a connection cord or via a personal computer to a printer connected to the personal computer. .

[0003]

The former method has problems that the connection of the cord is complicated and troublesome, the structure is not suitable for saving space, and the power supply must be turned on separately. . In the latter method, a personal computer must be operated, the operation is complicated, the system becomes large, and it cannot be said that it is easy and simple. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer having excellent visibility and operability by combining a digital camera and a printer in a detachable manner without using a connection cord, and by using a liquid crystal screen of the camera during printing. An object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera system that can be integrally connected.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a digital camera system comprising a printer and a digital camera integrally connected to the printer, wherein the digital camera system is connected to one side of the printer. And an image output terminal portion of the digital camera is directly connected to the connection portion, and a liquid crystal screen portion of the digital camera is installed upward or frontward, and printed on a liquid crystal screen of the digital camera at the same time when system power is turned on. An image to be displayed is displayed and printed out using a part of the operation unit on the digital camera or the printer side. The connection unit has a line for charging a battery of the digital camera from a power supply of the printer, and is configured to start charging the battery by mounting the digital camera on the printer. A lock mechanism is provided for fixing the digital camera connected to the connection section to the printer. A part of the operation unit of the digital camera is provided with an image feed selection button for selecting an image while sequentially reproducing images on the liquid crystal screen.

[0005]

According to the above construction, since the printer and the digital camera are integrally connected, the printer and the digital camera have a simple connection structure without taking up space, and a system for printing out a photographed image with good visibility and operability can be realized.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a digital camera system which can be integrated with a printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. The digital camera 1 has a liquid crystal screen 6 at the center of the rear surface.
An operation unit 13 including a plurality of buttons for photographing, adjustment, and the like is disposed on the left side of the image forming apparatus. On the upper right side of the liquid crystal screen 6, an image feed selection button 10 is provided. The image feed selection button 10 is used to sequentially reproduce each photographed frame and select a desired image, and is also used for print output. A release button 14 is arranged near the upper right end of the digital camera 1.

In the center of the upper surface of the printer 2, a coupling groove 18 having an opening 18a on the right side is provided. The coupling groove 18 serves as a guide for fitting the digital camera 1 and holding the digital camera 1 after fitting. A connector support 17 (see FIG. 3) is provided at the left end of the coupling groove 18. Near the left end of the upper surface of the printer 2, a grip 3 for holding down the printer 2 when mounting or removing the digital camera 1 is provided. A power button 9 is provided near the lower end of the upper surface of the printer 2, and a print button 11 is provided at the right end.

An eject operation knob 7 for detaching the mounted digital camera 1 and a printout section 8 are provided on the front (front) of the printer 2. At the back of the printer 2 is mounted a printer tray 4 for storing photographic paper 12. When attaching the digital camera 1,
The user presses the grip 3 and inserts the digital camera 1 with the liquid crystal screen 6 facing upward from the opening 18 a side of the coupling groove 18. The digital camera 1 is guided by the coupling groove 18 so that the female connector 15 below the digital camera is connected to the connector support 1.
7 and are integrally connected to each other, and are locked by a lock mechanism (see FIG. 4) so that the camera cannot be disconnected from the connector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the fitting mechanism. The connector female 15 of the digital camera 1 is provided on the camera lens side, and its connection surface is located at a position L away from the end of the camera. Note that the value of L may be set to 0 so that the connection surface is located at the side surface of the camera. The connector support 17 has a U-shape, and a connector male 16 is provided at the center thereof. The connector female 15 is fitted to the connector male 16 and the surface 1a around the connector on the camera lens side is the upper surface 17a of the connector support base 17.
And the side walls 18a and 18b of the coupling groove 18 contact the bottom surface 1b and the top surface 1c of the camera, respectively, so that the position of the camera when it is fitted is fixed.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views showing an embodiment of a locking and ejecting mechanism when the camera is mounted on and removed from the camera. FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a locked state, and FIG. 4B is a perspective view showing details around a locking groove. FIG. The lock mechanism is provided on the side part at the back of the coupling groove. One end of the lock plate 20 is rotatably attached to the shaft 22, and the lock plate 20 is urged counterclockwise by a spring 23. The tip of the lock plate 20 is a claw, and this portion engages with a lock groove 21 provided on the bottom of the camera 1.

Eject lever 27 for eject
Has one end rotatably attached to the shaft 24, and has an eject operation knob 7 on the other end side. The eject operation knob 7 is arranged on the front of the printer 2 as shown in FIG. The eject lever 27 has a pressing portion 28 and a pin 25 for pressing the side of the digital camera 1 at an intermediate portion. The pin 25 is always in contact with the side surface of the lock plate 20 except for temporarily leaving the side surface of the lock plate 20 immediately before locking. When the digital camera 1 is inserted in the direction of the arrow 29 for mounting, the corner 1d of the camera 1 abuts against the inclined portion 20b of the claw 20a of the lock plate 20 and is pressed. It rotates slightly clockwise, and the tip of the claw 20a is pressed against the camera bottom surface 1c. When the camera is further pushed in the direction of the arrow, the tip of the claw 20a slides on the camera upper surface 1c and fits into the lock groove 21 by the urging force of the spring 23.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing the positional relationship between the eject mechanism and the connector portion. Fig. 4 shows the position of A
The same position as the eject lever 27 shown in FIG.
By sliding the eject operation knob 7 to the position B, the connector female 15 is pushed out from the connector male 16 of the connector support portion 17 and the digital camera 1 can be detached.

Returning to FIG. 4, the ejection operation will be described.
When the eject operation knob 7 is slid in the direction of arrow 19, the pin 25 of the eject lever 27 pushes the inclined side surface 20c in accordance with the slide.
Rotates clockwise. When the pin 25 pushes the inclined side surface 20c and reaches near the middle position of the inclined side surface 20c, the claw 2
0a comes off the lock groove 21. Thereafter, the pressing portion 28 comes into contact with the side surface of the digital camera 1 and starts pressing the digital camera 1 in the ejecting direction. When the eject lever 27 reaches the position B in FIG. 5, the connector of the digital camera 1 is completely pulled out. Thus, the digital camera 1 can be removed from the printer 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a digital camera system which can be integrated with a printer according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a liquid crystal screen of a digital camera is combined with an upper surface of a printer standing upright. A connector support 36 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the printer 30, and the side surface of the connector support 36 is attached to the rotation support 37 so as to be tiltable by a predetermined angle back and forth. A power button 38, an eject button 39, and a print button 34 are provided at a front portion of the upper surface of the printer 30. A printout unit 35 is provided on the front of the printer 30, and a printer tray 31 is provided on the back.

The digital camera 32 is inserted in the direction of the arrow 29 to connect to the female connector of the camera (not shown).
Are fitted to a female connector (not shown) provided on the connector support base 36 and integrally connected to the printer 30. Since this fitting structure is a structure to be inserted from above, it can be securely held without providing a lock mechanism. As described above, the connector support base 36 can be rotated back and forth by a predetermined angle, so that the liquid crystal display unit 33 of the digital camera 32 can be set at an easy-to-view angle. By pressing the eject button 39, the digital camera 32 can be detached from the connector support base 36.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit of a digital camera system which can be integrated with a printer according to the present invention. When the digital camera is mounted on the printer, the camera-side I / F unit 50 and the printer-side I / F unit 51 are electrically connected. The operation unit 43 corresponds to a portion including the camera-side operation unit 13 and the image feed selection button 10 when associated with FIG. 1, and the operation unit 55 corresponds to a portion including the power button 9 and the print button 11, respectively. When the power is turned on by the operation unit 55, the power supply circuit 53 powers on its own device and sends its power supply energy to the power supply control circuit 41 of the digital camera. When the controller (1) 42 of the digital camera controls the power supply control circuit 41, power supply energy from the printer side is supplied to the battery 40,
Battery 40 is charged when it is not in a fully charged state.

The controller (1) 42 includes an imaging unit 44,
The image processing section 45 reads out the image in the memory 46 that has been photographed and stored, and reproduces and displays the image on a liquid crystal monitor (corresponding to a liquid crystal display section) 48 via a liquid crystal driver 47. Operation unit 43
By operating the image feed selection button, images can be sequentially reproduced and displayed, and an image to be printed can be selected. When the print button of the operation unit 55 is pressed, the controller (2) 54 sends a control signal to the controller (1) 42, and the controller (1) 42 reads out the displayed image from the memory 46, and sends it to the controller (2) 54. send. The controller (2) 54 drives the printer driver 57 to convert the image transmitted thereto into a printer unit 58.
Print with. The I / F connector 52 and the I / F connector 49 are connectors for connecting cables.

[0018]

As described above, the present invention has a connection portion on one side of a printer and directly connects an image output terminal portion of a digital camera to the connection portion, and a liquid crystal screen portion of the digital camera faces upward or forward. Installed in
An image to be printed is displayed on the liquid crystal screen of the digital camera at the same time as the system power is turned on, and is printed out using a part of the operation unit of the digital camera or the printer. Therefore, the printer and the digital camera are integrally connected to each other, so that a simple connection structure can be obtained without taking up a space, and a printout system of a digital camera photographed image with good visibility and operability can be provided. Also, by configuring the digital camera battery to be charged by the printer power supply at the same time as the system power-on, when the digital camera battery is exhausted, the battery can be charged using the printer power supply during print output. Therefore, the time required to connect the camera to the power supply only for the purpose of charging can be reduced. Further, by providing a lock mechanism for fixing the digital camera to the printer, the digital camera connected by the connector is not easily detached from the printer and is securely fixed to the printer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a digital camera system that can be integrated with a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a fitting mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a lock and eject mechanism when a camera is mounted and demounted.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing a positional relationship between an eject mechanism and a connector portion.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a digital camera system that can be integrated with a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit of a digital camera system that can be integrated with a printer according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital camera 2 ... Printer 3 ... Grip 4 ... Printer tray 6 ... Liquid crystal screen 7 ... Eject operation knob 8 ... Printout part 9 ... Power button 10 ... Image feed selection button 11 ... Print button 12 ... Printing paper 13 ... Camera operation Part 14 ... Release button 15 ... Connector female (image output terminal part) 16 ... Connector male 17 ... Connector support 18 ... Coupling groove 20 ... Lock plate 21 ... Lock groove 22, 24 ... Shaft 23 ... Spring 25 ... Pin 27 ... Eject Lever 28 ... Pressing part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising a printer and a digital camera integrally connected to the printer, comprising: a connection portion on one side of the printer; and an image output terminal portion of the digital camera directly connected to the connection portion. The LCD screen of the digital camera is installed facing upward or in the front, displays an image to be printed on the LCD screen of the digital camera at the same time as the system power is turned on, and also includes a part of the operation unit on the digital camera or printer side. A digital camera system capable of being integrated with a printer, wherein the digital camera system is configured to output a print using a digital camera. 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the connection unit includes a line for charging a battery of the digital camera from a power supply of the printer, and charging the battery by mounting the digital camera on the printer. Item 1. A digital camera system capable of being integrated with a printer according to Item 1. 3. The digital camera system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a lock mechanism for fixing the digital camera connected to the connection section to the printer. 4. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein a part of an operation unit of the digital camera has an image forward selection button for selecting an image while sequentially reproducing images on the liquid crystal screen. Digital camera system that can be integrated with other printers.