JP2020008694A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an imaging device capable of suppressing a temperature rise of an organic EC element without being affected by a heating element in the imaging device.
An imaging device including an imaging device, an EC solution, and an EC device including a first substrate and a second substrate sandwiching the EC solution, wherein a first device provided near the EC device is provided. The case, a heating element that is in a high temperature state during a shooting operation, a second housing connected to the heating element, and a conductive member, the conductive member, the first substrate and the It is connected to the first housing, and the first housing and the second housing are not thermally connected.
[Selection diagram] FIG.

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device including an EC element.

  In recent years, in an image pickup apparatus having a moving image photographing function, for example, when the aperture is opened to take advantage of the bokeh when the weather is fine, the subject is so-called overexposed, so an ND filter is attached to the front of the photographing lens. In some cases, the subject is appropriately exposed to light by dimming the image.

  Conventionally, ND filters having different optical densities have been prepared, and the ND filters have been replaced with appropriate ND filters according to the brightness of the shooting scene. In order to solve the inconvenience, an ND filter (hereinafter referred to as a variable ND filter) whose optical density can be adjusted has been commercialized, and a variable ND filter is mounted on the front surface of a photographing lens, or a variable ND filter is provided in an imaging device. It has a built-in filter mechanism. This makes it possible for a photographer to easily change the optical density of the ND filter to shoot a scene corresponding to different brightness.

  As a variable ND filter, an EC device using a liquid crystal or an inorganic electrochromic thin film (hereinafter, referred to as an EC device) has been proposed.

  An EC element is an element having a pair of electrodes and an electrochromic layer (hereinafter, referred to as an EC layer) disposed between the pair of electrodes.

  When a voltage is applied between the pair of electrodes of the EC element to redox the electrochromic compound in the EC layer, the spectral transmittance in the visible light region changes, thereby adjusting the amount of visible light passing through the EC element. I can do it.

  However, they are not widely used because they are inferior to the conventional fixed density ND filters in terms of light amount adjustment range, reliability, and the like.

  On the other hand, EC devices using organic electrochromic molecules are particularly promising for use as a variable ND filter mounted on an image pickup device because of their wide light amount adjustment range and relatively easy design of spectral transmittance.

  An EC device using organic electrochromic molecules (hereinafter referred to as an organic EC device) has an electrochemically active anodic material and an electrochemically active cathodic material between a pair of electrodes. At least one of these is configured as a material that exhibits an absorption band in the visible light region by electrochromic properties, that is, electrochemical redox. At this time, on the pair of electrodes, an oxidizing reaction of the anodic material and a reducing reaction of the cathodic material occur at the same time, a closed circuit is formed in the element, and current flows.

  Note that one of the anode material and the cathode material has one or two absorption peaks in the visible light region. Therefore, color control is performed by mixing a plurality of materials having different absorptions.

  Therefore, in the organic EC element, it is necessary to control the color stage (gradation). The gradation is determined by the electrochemical reaction amount of the anode material and the cathode material, and the reaction amount is adjusted by electric control (applied voltage).

  By the way, since the organic EC element uses an anode material and a cathode material, which are organic electrochromic molecules, the amount of electrochemical reaction changes depending on the temperature, so that the temperature rises while the same voltage is applied. Then, there is a problem that the optical density is reduced due to a change in color gradation.

  In order to solve this problem, Patent Document 1 proposes preventing the temperature rise of the organic EC element by releasing the heat absorbed by the organic EC element to the housing.

JP 2014-098934 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, the heat absorbed by the organic EC element is released to the housing through the window frame. Therefore, when the disclosed technology is used for a variable ND filter when the organic EC element is incorporated in an imaging device. However, the following problems can be considered.

  The heat of the heating element such as a control IC included in the imaging apparatus is released to the housing of the imaging apparatus to reduce the heat of the heating element. On the other hand, when the organic EC element is incorporated in the image pickup device, in order to prevent the temperature of the organic EC element from becoming high by condensing the sunlight through the photographing optical system to the organic EC element, and to release the heat of the organic EC element. It becomes necessary to connect the organic EC element and the housing. Then, even when the organic EC element is not at a high temperature, the heat of a heating element such as a control IC is transmitted to the EC element through the housing, so that the organic EC element may be heated to a high temperature. This causes a problem that the optical density is reduced due to the temperature change of the organic EC element as described above.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device capable of suppressing a rise in the temperature of an organic EC element without being affected by a heating element in the imaging device.

In order to achieve the above object, an imaging device according to the present invention includes:
An image sensor;
In an imaging apparatus including an EC element configured of an EC solution and a first substrate and a second substrate that sandwich the EC solution,
A first housing provided near the EC element;
A heating element that becomes hot during a shooting operation;
A second housing connected to the heating element,
A conductive member;
Has,
The conductive member is connected to the first substrate and the first housing, and the first housing and the second housing are not thermally connected. .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the imaging device which concerns on this invention, the effect that it becomes possible to suppress the temperature rise of an organic EC element, without being influenced by the heating element in an imaging device is acquired.

Schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the organic EC device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a camera 100 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration around an image sensor according to the present invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the configuration of the EC device of the present invention will be illustratively described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the configuration and the like described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified.

  The EC device according to the present invention has an electrochromic medium including a solvent containing at least one type of electrochromic material between substrates on which a pair of transparent electrodes are formed, and each of the pair of transparent electrode substrates has at least two electrochromic media. The above power supply terminal is provided, and in the optical density transition process or the optical density maintenance process of the EC element, a voltage is sequentially applied from a drive power source to a pair of power supply terminals provided at positions opposed to each other with an effective light beam region interposed therebetween. It is characterized by applying a pulse.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of an EC device (hereinafter, referred to as an organic EC device 240) of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, transparent electrodes 2a and 2b are formed on glass substrates 1a and 1b, respectively, and a pair of transparent electrode substrates are bonded together via a seal 3 containing gap control particles (not shown). The space between the electrode substrates is filled with an electrochromic medium 4 made of a solvent containing at least one type of electrochromic material.

  Each of the pair of transparent electrode substrates (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b) has at least two or more power supply terminals A1, A2, ..., An-1, An (anode) and C1, C2, ..., Cn-1. , Cn (cathode) are provided (n ≧ 2), and each power supply terminal is connected to the low-resistance wiring 5 formed on the transparent electrode outside the effective light beam area.

  The power supply terminals A1, A2, ..., An-1, An and C1, C2, ..., Cn-1, Cn (n≥2) are connected to a drive power supply 6 including a drive circuit board, respectively, and are connected between terminals A1 and C1. The element is driven by applying a voltage pulse repeatedly between the An-Cn terminals.

  As a method for filling the electrochromic medium 4, a method of forming and filling a pair of holes in the glass substrates 1a and 1b, a method of vacuum injection from a filling hole on the side of the organic EC element formed by a seal pattern, a method of filling a pair of holes, There is a method of filling in a vacuum at the same time as the bonding of the transparent electrode substrate, and any of them can be suitably used.

  As the glass substrates 1a and 1b, optical glass, quartz glass, white plate glass, blue plate glass, borosilicate glass, alkali-free glass, chemically strengthened glass, or the like can be used, and in particular, alkali-free glass from the viewpoint of transparency and durability. Can be suitably used.

  On the glass substrates 1a and 1b, in addition to the transparent electrodes 2a and 2b, reflection on the glass substrate surface, the glass substrate-transparent electrode interface and the transparent electrode-electrochromic medium interface is reduced to improve the transmittance of the organic EC element 240. An anti-reflection layer and an index matching layer (not shown) can be suitably used.

  As the transparent electrodes 2 (2a, 2b), so-called transparent conductive oxides such as tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), zinc oxide, gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), tin oxide, and antimony-doped Tin oxide (ATO), fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), niobium-doped titanium oxide (TNO), or the like can be used.

  As the seal 3, a thermosetting resin or an ultraviolet curable resin can be used, and a suitable material is appropriately selected according to the above-described filling method of the electrochromic medium 4, that is, an element manufacturing process. Further, it is preferable that the cell gap control particles for defining the distance between the pair of transparent electrode substrates are kneaded in the seal 3.

  The electrochromic medium 4 is composed of at least one kind of electrochromic material and a solvent, and may further contain other beneficial agents such as a supporting electrolyte and a thickener.

  As the electrochromic material, a compound whose visible light transmittance changes by oxidation-reduction can be preferably used, and among them, an organic compound such as a thiophene compound, a phenazine compound, and a bipyridinium salt compound can be preferably used.

  The solvent is not particularly limited as long as it dissolves a beneficial agent such as an electrochromic material or a supporting electrolyte, but a solvent having a large polarity can be preferably used. Specifically, water, methanol, ethanol, propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethoxyethane, γ-butyrolactone, γ-valerolactone, sulfolane, dimethylformamide, dimethoxyethane, tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, propionnitrile, benzonitrile, benzonitrile, Organic polar solvents such as dimethylacetamide, methylpyrrolidinone, and dioxolane are exemplified.

  The supporting electrolyte is not limited as long as it is an ion dissociable salt and shows good solubility in a solvent, but an electrolyte having an electron donating property can be preferably used. Examples thereof include inorganic ion salts such as various alkali metal salts and alkaline earth metal salts, quaternary ammonium salts, and cyclic quaternary ammonium salts. Specifically, LiClO4, LiSCN, LiBF4, LiAsF6, LiCF3SO3, LiPF6, LiI, NaI, NaSCN, NaClO4, NaBF4, NaAsF6, alkali metal salts of Na, K such as KSCN, KCl, etc., and (CH3) 4NBF4, Quaternary ammonium salts such as (C2H5) 4NBF4, (n-C4H9) 4NBF4, (n-C4H9) 4NPF6, (C2H5) 4NBr, (C2H5) 4NCLO4, (n-C4H9) 4NCLO4, and cyclic quaternary ammonium salts. Can be

  As the thickener, for example, at least one selected from cyanoethyl polyvinyl alcohol, cyanoethyl pullulan, and cyanoethyl cellulose can be suitably used. These include CR-V (cyanoethyl polyvinyl alcohol: softening temperature 20 to 40 ° C., dielectric constant 18.9), CR-S (cyanoethyl pullulan: softening temperature 90 to 100 ° C., dielectric constant 18.9), CR-C ( Obtained from Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. as cyanoethyl cellulose: softening temperature of 200 ° C. or higher, dielectric constant of 16), and CR-M (mixture of cyanoethyl pullulan and cyanoethyl polyvinyl alcohol: softening temperature of 40 to 70 ° C., dielectric constant of 18.9). It is an additive that solves the conflicting problems of high viscosity and high ionic conductivity over a wide temperature range with a good balance.

  The present invention is an EC device including a pair of electrodes, an electrochromic layer including an electrolyte and an electrochromic material provided between the pair of electrodes, and a member disposed between the pair of electrodes. .

  Examples of the EC device according to the present invention include a device using an inorganic material and an organic material as an electrochromic material (also abbreviated as “EC material”). In particular, an organic EC device using an organic material as the EC material (“ Organic EC device ").

  Further, a driving method of an EC element according to the present invention is a driving method including a pair of electrodes and an electrochromic layer having an electrolyte and an electrochromic material between the pair of electrodes.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the organic EC element 240 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the organic EC element 240 of the present invention is obtained by bonding a pair of transparent glass substrates 1a and 1b having a pair of transparent electrodes 2a and 2b via a spacer 3 so that the electrode surfaces face each other. It is configured. An electrochromic medium 4 in which an electrolyte and an organic EC material are dissolved in a solvent (hereinafter abbreviated as an organic EC layer 4) is present in a gap formed by the pair of glass substrates 1a and 1b and the spacer 3.

  The transparent electrodes 2a and 2b are connected to a drive power supply 6, and an organic EC material causes an electrochemical reaction by applying a voltage between the two electrodes.

  The organic EC material takes a neutral state when no voltage is applied, and has no absorption in the visible light region. In such a decolored state, the organic EC element 240 shows a high transmittance. By applying a voltage between the two electrodes, an electrochemical reaction occurs in the organic EC material, and the organic EC material changes from a neutral state to an oxidized state or a reduced state. The organic EC material has an absorption in a visible light region in an oxidized / reduced state and is colored. In such a colored state, the organic EC element 240 shows a low transmittance.

  Even when the organic EC element 240 according to the present invention is an organic EC element 240 having an electrochromic layer having a plurality of types of EC materials, it is possible to appropriately express an intermediate gradation.

  An optical filter according to the present invention includes the organic EC element 240 described above and an active element (not shown) connected to the organic EC element 240.

  In the present embodiment, examples of the active element include a transistor and an MIM element. As the active layer of the transistor, a non-single-crystal silicon such as single-crystal silicon, amorphous silicon, or microcrystalline silicon, or a non-single-crystal oxide semiconductor such as indium zinc oxide or indium gallium zinc oxide can be given. The transistor may be a thin film transistor. A thin film transistor is also called a TFT element.

  It is preferable to use a transparent substrate as the substrate. A glass material is used for the glass substrates 1a and 1b, and an optical glass substrate such as Corning # 7059 or BK-7 can be suitably used.

  As a material such as plastic or ceramic, any material can be used as long as it has transparency. Since the transparent substrate is directly subjected to the force from the change mechanism, a material that is rigid and causes little distortion is preferable. It is more preferable that the substrate has low flexibility. The thickness of the transparent substrate is several tens μm to several mm.

  It is preferable to use a transparent electrode as the electrode. The transparent electrodes 2a and 2b are preferably made of a material having high conductivity as well as high light transmittance in the visible light region. These materials include metals and metals such as indium tin oxide alloy (ITO), tin oxide (NESA), indium zinc oxide (IZO), silver oxide, vanadium oxide, molybdenum oxide, gold, silver, platinum, copper, indium, and chromium. Examples include silicon-based materials such as oxides, polycrystalline silicon, and amorphous silicon, and carbon materials such as carbon black, graphite, and glassy carbon.

  In addition, a conductive polymer (for example, a polyaniline, a polypyrrole, a polythiophene, a polyacetylene, a polyparaphenylene, a complex of polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) and polystyrenesulfonic acid, etc.) whose conductivity has been improved by doping treatment or the like is also preferably used. .

  In the organic EC element 240 of the present invention, since it is preferable to have a high transmittance in the decolored state, ITO, IZO, NESA, which does not show light absorption in the visible light region, and a conductive polymer having improved conductivity are particularly preferable. It is preferably used. These can be used in various forms such as bulk and fine particles. These electrode materials may be used alone or in combination.

  The spacer 3 is arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the transparent electrode 2a, 2b, avoiding a portion serving as an optical path. In such a case, the spacer 3 may also serve as a sealing material so that the solution containing the organic EC material does not leak out. Further, in applications where it is not necessary to be concerned about unevenness in the amount of transmitted light on the electrode surface, the spacer 3 may be disposed in a portion that becomes an optical path of the transparent electrodes 2a and 2b.

The organic EC layer 4 is formed by dissolving an electrolyte and an organic EC material in a solvent. The solvent is not particularly limited as long as it can dissolve the electrolyte, but a polar solvent is particularly preferred. Specifically, water, methanol, ethanol, propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethoxyethane, acetonitrile, γ-butyrolactone, γ-valerolactone, sulfolane, dimethylformamide, dimethoxyethane, tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, propionitrile, dimethyl Organic polar solvents such as acetamide, methylpyrrolidinone, and dioxolane are exemplified.
The electrolyte is not particularly limited as long as it is an ion-dissociable salt that exhibits good solubility and has a cation or anion that has an electron-donating property enough to secure coloring of the organic EC material. Examples include inorganic ion salts such as various alkali metal salts and alkaline earth metal salts, quaternary ammonium salts, and cyclic quaternary ammonium salts.

  Specifically, LiClO4, LiSCN, LiBF4, LiAsF6, LiCF3SO3, LiPF6, LiI, NaI, NaSCN, NaClO4, NaBF4, NaAsF6, alkali metal salts of Na, K such as KSCN, KCl, etc., and (CH3) 4NBF4, Quaternary ammonium salts such as (C2H5) 4NBF4, (n-C4H9) 4NBF4, (C2H5) 4NBr, (C2H5) 4NCLO4, (n-C4H9) 4NCLO4, and cyclic quaternary ammonium salts. These electrolyte materials may be used alone or in combination.

  The organic EC material may be any material as long as it has solubility in a solvent and can express coloring and decoloring by an electrochemical reaction. A known oxidation / reduction coloring EC material can be used. When the organic EC element 240 is used as a light control element, transmittance contrast and wavelength flatness are required. In consideration of the above, it is preferable to use a material having a high transmittance in the decolored state and a high coloring efficiency (ratio of the optical density to the injected charge amount) as much as possible. Furthermore, when it is difficult to achieve flat absorption with one material in terms of wavelength flatness, a plurality of materials can be used in combination.

  Specific examples of the organic EC material include, for example, organic dyes such as viologen dyes, styryl dyes, fluoran dyes, cyanine dyes, aromatic amine dyes, and organic metal complexes such as metal-bipyridyl complexes and metal-phthalocyanine complexes. I can do things.

  It is also possible to use a dispersion of an inorganic EC material in a solution. Examples of the inorganic EC material include tungsten oxide, vanadium oxide, molybdenum oxide, iridium oxide, nickel oxide, manganese oxide, and titanium oxide.

The organic EC layer 4 is preferably a liquid or a gel. The organic EC layer 4 is preferably used as a solution composed of the above, but can be used in a gel state. For gelation, the solution further contains a polymer and a gelling agent. The polymer (gelling agent) is not particularly limited and includes, for example, polyacrylonitrile, carboxymethylcellulose, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl bromide, polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, polyurethane, polyacrylate, polymethacrylate, polyamide, polyacrylamide, Examples include polyester, polyvinylidene fluoride, and Nafion. As described above, a viscous or gel-like organic EC layer 4 can be used.
In addition to using the mixture in the above-described mixed state, these solutions may be supported on a structure having a transparent and flexible network structure (for example, a sponge-like structure). Note that the organic EC layer 4 corresponds to the EC solution of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the camera 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a schematic configuration of the camera 100.

  In FIG. 2, an infrared cut filter or an image sensor is provided in an optical axis I extending from a photographing optical system 102 a of the interchangeable lens 102 to an image sensor 252 through a focal plane shutter 220 including a plurality of shutter blades. An optical element 230 on which a phase plate such as crystal is laminated is provided on 252 to limit the cutoff frequency of the photographing optical system 102a so that a spatial frequency component higher than necessary of the object image (optical image) is not transmitted. I have.

  The organic EC element 240 is provided between the optical element 230 and the imaging element 252 as a variable ND filter.

  Reference numeral 190 denotes a lens contact provided between the interchangeable lens 102 and the camera 100. Communication between the control means (not shown) of the interchangeable lens 102 and the control means (not shown) of the camera 100 via the lens contact 190. It is possible.

  A release button 191a is pressed in two stages. A half-pressing operation (SW1 ON) starts a shooting preparation operation (photometric operation, focus adjustment operation, etc.), and a full-pressing operation (SW2 ON). (Recording of image data read from image sensor 252 on a recording medium) is started.

  The main switch 195a is a switch for activating the camera 100.

  Reference numeral 250 denotes a movable half mirror that reflects a part of the light beam from the photographing optical system and transmits the remaining light beam. The refractive index of the half mirror 250 is approximately 1.5 and the thickness is 0.5 mm.

  A movable sub-mirror 251 is provided behind the half mirror 250 (on the image surface side), and reflects a light flux close to the optical axis L1 out of the light flux transmitted through the half mirror 250 and guides it to the distance measuring unit 253. The sub-mirror 251 rotates around a rotation axis provided on a holding member of the half mirror 250 (not shown) and moves in conjunction with the movement of the half mirror 250.

  The optical path splitting system including the half mirror 250 and the sub-mirror 251 is in a first optical path splitting state for guiding light to a finder optical system, and a photographing optical path for directly guiding a light beam from an imaging lens (not shown) to the image sensor 252. 2 (the positions indicated by broken lines in FIG. 2: 250 'and 251').

  The image sensor 252 is, specifically, a CMOS process compatible sensor (hereinafter abbreviated as a CMOS sensor), which is one of amplification type solid-state image sensors. One of the features of the CMOS sensor is that the MOS transistor of the area sensor section and peripheral circuits such as an image pickup device driving circuit, an AD conversion circuit, and an image processing circuit can be formed in the same process. Can be significantly reduced. In addition, it has a feature that random access to an arbitrary pixel is possible, thinning-out reading for display is easy, and real-time display can be performed on the display unit 258 at a high display rate.

  Further, the image sensor 252 utilizes the above-described features, and performs a display image output operation (reading in a part of the light receiving region of the image sensor 252 in a thinned-out region) and a high-definition image output operation (reading in the entire light receiving region). I do.

  Further, the image sensor 252 is mounted on a substrate 260 (described later) on which a control IC 50 (described later) for controlling the operation of the camera 100 is mounted. It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this mode, and the present invention is also effective in a mode in which the board on which only the image sensor 252 is mounted and the board 260 on which the control IC 50 is mounted are connected in a divided state.

  The distance measuring unit 253 receives a light beam from the sub mirror 251 and performs focus detection by a phase difference detection method. Reference numeral 254 of the distance measuring unit 253 denotes a condenser lens serving as a light beam capturing window of the distance measuring unit 253, reference numeral 255 denotes a reflection mirror, reference numeral 256 denotes a re-imaging lens, and reference numeral 257 denotes a focus detection sensor.

  The light beam emitted from the photographing optical system 102a and reflected by the sub-mirror 251 in the first optical path split state enters the condenser lens 254 below the mirror box, is deflected by the reflection mirror 255, and acts by the re-imaging lens 256. Thereby, a secondary image of the object is formed on the focus detection sensor 257.

  The focus detection sensor 257 is provided with at least two pixel rows, and between the output signal waveforms of the two pixel rows, an image of the object image formed by the imaging optical system 102a on the focus detection field of view is formed. Accordingly, a relatively laterally shifted state is observed. The shift direction of the output signal waveform is reversed between the front pin and the rear pin, and the principle of focus detection is to detect the phase difference (shift amount) including the direction by using a technique such as correlation calculation.

  The display unit 258 is attached to the back of the camera 100, so that the user can directly observe the display on the display unit 258.

  When the display portion 258 is formed of an organic EL spatial light modulator, a liquid crystal spatial light modulator, a spatial light modulator using electrophoresis of fine particles, or the like, power consumption can be reduced and the display portion 258 can be made thinner. . Thus, power saving and downsizing of the camera 100 can be achieved.

  Reference numeral 270 denotes a focusing screen arranged on a predetermined image forming plane of an object image formed by the photographing optical system, and 272 denotes a pentaprism.

  Reference numeral 271 denotes an information display unit in the optical viewfinder for displaying specific information on the focusing screen 270.

  Reference numeral 273 denotes a finder lens for observing an object image formed on the focusing screen 270, which is actually composed of three lenses (273-1, 273-2, 273-3 in FIG. 2). . The focusing screen 270, the pentaprism 272, and the finder lens 273 constitute a finder optical system.

  Reference numeral 274 denotes an eyepiece shutter, which is used to prevent back-incoming light from the finder optical system from entering the image sensor 252 and becoming a ghost during self-timer shooting.

  Reference numeral 280 denotes a movable flash light emitting unit, which is movable between a storage position where the flash device is stored in the camera 100 and a light emission position protruding from the camera 100.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration around the image sensor 252 in the cross-sectional view illustrating the schematic configuration of the camera 100 in FIG.

  In the figure, among the glass substrates 1a and 1b of the organic EC element 240, a heat conductive member 60 is connected to the surface of the glass substrate 1a on the subject side. Therefore, the glass substrate 1a corresponds to the first substrate of the present invention, the glass substrate 1b corresponds to the second substrate of the present invention, and the heat conductive member 60 corresponds to the conductive member of the present invention.

  Further, one end of the heat conductive member 60 is connected to a housing 100 a constituting the camera 100. Therefore, when the organic EC element 240 absorbs heat, for example, when the light is condensed on the organic EC element 240 through the imaging optical system 102a, the heat absorbed by the housing unit 100a via the heat conducting member 60 can be released. It is possible to suppress the temperature of the organic EC element 240240 from becoming high. It is preferable that the housing portion 100a is connected to a member (corresponding to an external component of the present invention) that forms the external appearance of the camera 100 directly or via a heat conductive member (not shown). With such a configuration, heat transmitted from the organic EC element 240 can be released to the outside of the camera 100, so that the temperature rise of the organic EC element 240 can be further suppressed. That is, the casing 100a corresponds to the first casing of the present invention.

  Therefore, when the glass substrate 1a and the glass substrate 1b are compared, it is desirable that the glass substrate 1a has a high thermal conductivity. For example, the glass substrate 1a may be made of sapphire glass, and the glass substrate 1b may be made of non-alkali glass, but is not limited thereto.

  By the way, when the position of the organic EC element 240 and the image pickup element 252 in the optical axis direction are close to each other, there is a concern that dust adhering to the surface of the organic EC element 240 is reflected in the captured image. However, if the heat conducting member 60 has conductivity and the case 100a is grounded, the charging of the surface of the organic EC element 240 is suppressed, so that the surface of the organic EC element 240 Adhesion of dust generated on the surface is suppressed. Therefore, even when the position of the organic EC element 240 and the image pickup element 252 in the optical axis direction are close to each other, the reflection of dust on the captured image is suppressed.

  On the other hand, as described above, the control IC 50 is also mounted on the substrate 260 on which the image sensor 252 is mounted. In general, when moving image shooting or high-speed continuous shooting of still images is performed, the operation time of the image sensor 252 and the control IC 50 becomes longer due to image processing and the like, so that the image sensor 252 and the control IC 50 generate heat. Will come. If the temperature of the image sensor 252 or the control IC 50 rises accordingly, a problem such as a reduction in the processing speed of each occurs. In order to prevent this problem, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a heat conductive member 61 is connected to the surface of the control IC 50. In addition, one end of the heat conductive member 61 is connected to the housing part 100b constituting the camera 100. Thus, the heat of the control IC 50 that has generated heat can be released to the housing portion 100b via the heat conducting member 61, so that the temperature of the control IC 50 is suppressed from becoming high.

  By the way, when the heat released from the control IC 50 to the casing 100b is transmitted to the casing 100a, even when the heat is not absorbed by the organic EC element 240 to condense light or the like, the heat conducting member 60 from the casing 100a is not absorbed. The heat is transmitted to the organic EC element 240 via. As a result, the temperature of the organic EC element 240 may be high.

  Therefore, in order to prevent the heat of the image pickup element 252 and the control IC 50 which have become high temperature from being transmitted to the organic EC element 240, the casing 100a and the casing 100b need to be thermally independent. is there. That is, the casing 100a and the casing 100b are disposed in the camera 100 in a state of being separated by a separate member, or a heat insulating material (not shown) is provided between the casing 100a and the casing 100b. ) Is provided in the camera 100 in an integrated state.

  That is, the casing 100b corresponds to the second casing of the present invention, and the control IC corresponds to the heating element of the present invention. In addition, the state of being thermally independent corresponds to not being thermally connected in the present invention.

  As described above, by connecting the surface of the organic EC element 240 to the housing portion 100a that is thermally independent from the housing portion 100b to which other heating elements in the camera 100 such as the control IC 50 are connected. Thus, an imaging device capable of suppressing the temperature of the organic EC element 240 from becoming high can be provided.

  That is, in the present invention, an effect is obtained that the temperature rise of the organic EC element can be suppressed without being affected by the heating element in the imaging device.

1a, 1b glass substrate, 50 control IC, 60 heat conductive member,
100 camera, 100a, 100b housing, 240 organic EC device

Claims (5)

An image sensor;
In an imaging apparatus including an EC element configured of an EC solution and a first substrate and a second substrate that sandwich the EC solution,
A first housing provided near the EC element;
A heating element that becomes hot during a shooting operation;
A second housing connected to the heating element,
A conductive member;
Has,
The conductive member is connected to the first substrate and the first housing, and the first housing and the second housing are not thermally connected. . The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive member is connected to a surface of the first substrate. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the first housing is connected to an external part of the imaging device. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein a thermal conductivity of the first substrate is higher than a thermal conductivity of the second substrate. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the first housing is grounded.