JPH06339099A - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To construct a digital electronic still camera with a compact circuit that does not require a new connector connection terminal on the camera body. [Structure] A memory card type connector main body 14 having the same shape as the memory card and having the same connection pins is mounted to the memory card mounting portion 12 of the digital electronic still camera 11 instead of the memory card. The other end of the connector 14 is connected to an external storage device 15 such as a DAT, and instead of being recorded in a memory card, data is transmitted to the external storage device 15 and recorded there.

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, and more particularly to a digital signal output terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a digital electronic still camera for recording on a memory card or the like, a dedicated connector has been used for outputting a digital signal to the outside.

[0003]

However, when a connector connecting terminal is provided in the camera body as in the conventional digital electronic still camera, a space is taken and the mobility of the camera is sacrificed. In addition, since the camera is often used outdoors, there is a problem that reliability is deteriorated due to dirt and the like.

The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital electronic still camera having a compact circuit which does not require a new connector connection terminal on the camera body. .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic still camera of the present invention has a connector having the same shape as a memory card and connected to a communication cable. It has a structure which is mounted on a memory card mounting part and transmits / receives data to / from an external information device via a communication cable connected to the connector. Further, in the claim 2, the connector connected to the communication cable. A data processing circuit is incorporated therein to enable transmission / reception of data.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the memory card mounting connector and the external output terminal are shared by the connector having the shape of the memory card, so that the space of the camera is saved and the output terminal is protected.

[0007]

1 is a perspective view of the appearance of a memory card type connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a connector body, 2 is a connection terminal, and 3 is a communication cable.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a connection relationship of the memory card type connector, 11 is a digital electronic still camera, and 1 is a digital electronic still camera.
Reference numeral 2 is a camera-side memory card mounting portion, 13 is a memory card, 14 is a memory card type connector, 15 is an external storage device, and 16 is a memory card mounting portion on the external storage device side.

As shown in FIG. 1, a memory card type connector body 1 having the same shape as the memory card and having the same connection pins is prepared. As shown in FIG. 2, the connector main body 1 is used for the memory card mounting portion 1 of the digital electronic still camera 11.
Attach to 2 instead of a memory card. Then, the other side of the memory card type connector 14 is
It connects to an external storage device 15 such as a (Digital Audio Tape recorder), and instead of recording on a memory card, data is transmitted to the external storage device 15 and recorded there. At this time, the memory card mounting portion 16 which is a connector on the external storage device side does not have to be a memory card type, and may have another connector shape. Also, as an external storage device,
Circuit unit by memory IC, DAT, CD RO
In addition to the unit composed of M and a plurality of memory cards, a transmitter or a personal computer which transmits data to a distant place using a telephone line or the like may be used.

The number of connector pins of the memory card is
Generally, there are about 50 to 70 pins, and if all the signal lines are to be accommodated in a communication cable, the cable becomes thick and it becomes difficult to use. Therefore, the data processing circuit as shown in FIG. 3 is housed in the connector body and the communication method such as RS232C or Centronics is used.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram showing an example in RS232C communication. In the figure, 21 is a memory card type connector connection terminal, 22 is a data line between the camera and the memory card type connector, 23 is an address line between the camera and the memory card type connector, and 24 is various types between the camera and the memory card type connector. A control signal such as an enable signal, 25 is a memory I for data, 26 is a memory II for address information, 27 is a data bus, 28 is a parallel / serial conversion circuit, 29 is a serial / parallel conversion circuit, 30 is an RS232C driver, Reference numeral 31 is a communication signal line, and 32 is a system controller.

First, the write operation in FIG. 3 will be described. The data on the data line 22 and the address on the address line 23 are temporarily stored in the memory I25,
It is written in II26. At this time, it is determined whether the memory I25 and the memory II26 are in the writable state.
The system controller 32 manages and controls using each enable signal of the control signal 24, a busy signal, and the like. Then, the system controller 32 indicates that the writing process is started, and a predetermined command, for example, 00H is converted into serial data by the parallel / serial conversion circuit 28 and transmitted from the RS232C driver 30. Next, the information indicating the address written in the memory II 26 is converted into 4-bit parallel / serial conversion circuit 2
At step 8, RS232C is created by serializing the data and adding a 4-bit command to the beginning to indicate that it is address information.
It is sent from the driver 30. After the transmission of the address information is completed, a predetermined command, for example, 01H, indicating that the data is write data, is sent from the system controller 32 to the parallel / serial conversion circuit 2 again.
The data is transmitted from the RS232C driver 30 via 8. After that, the data information written in the memory I25 is converted into serial data in units of 4 bits as in the case of the address information, and a 4-bit command indicating that it is write data is added to the head and sent out. When transmission of all data is completed, a command indicating that the writing process is completed, for example, OFH is transmitted.

Next, the read operation will be described. The address information input from the address line 23 is once written in the memory II 26. At this time, the system controller 32 manages whether or not the memory I25 and the memory II26 are in a writable state, and controls using each enable signal and busy signal of the control signal 24. Then, the system controller 32 sends a command indicating the start of read processing, for example, 10H to RS232C.
Send from driver. Next, the address information written in the memory II 26 is converted into serial data in units of 4 bits by the parallel / serial conversion circuit 28, and a 4-bit command indicating the address information is added to the head, and R
It is sent from the S232C driver 30. After transmitting the address information, this time, a command requesting transmission of read data, for example, 31H is transmitted. The device on the other end receiving this command transmits a command (for example, 15H) indicating the start of transmission of read data, and subsequently indicates that the data is read data. Data with a 4-bit command added is transmitted in 4-bit units. When the transmission of all data is completed, a command indicating the end of read data, for example, 16H is transmitted.

At this time, the signal sent is RS232.
Received by the C driver 30, the serial / parallel conversion circuit 2
At 9, the signal is converted into a parallel signal and transmitted to the memory I25 and the system controller 32. The system controller 32 reads a command from the received signal, controls the memory I25 according to the received command, and stores the data in the received signal in the memory I25.
When all the data has been written to the memory I25, the system controller 32 outputs an output signal of the read data to the control signal 24 of the memory card connector 21 and outputs the read data on the memory I25 to the data line 2.
2 to output.

FIG. 4 is a table showing examples of commands in the series of processes. In this example, both address and data are 1
This is for 6 bits and may be set according to the specifications of the memory card.

The present invention is based on the RS23 as an embodiment described above.
A data transmission method other than 2C, for example, a method such as Centronics or SCSI may be used. Further, in FIG. 3, the blocks are shown for each function, but the data memory I and the memory II do not have to be independent of each other, and commands can be stored at the stage of storing in each memory. The same function can be achieved even when added.

It is also conceivable to use the RAM in the microprocessor for the two memories in FIG. 3 and process all or some of the blocks in FIG. 3 by software in the microprocessor.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the image data of the digital electronic still camera is output to the outside by using the connector having the same shape as the memory card having the data processing circuit built therein. Since it is not necessary to provide a new cable-dedicated connector in the camera body, space can be made compact, and it is not necessary to consider dirt on the terminals of the cable-dedicated connector.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a memory card type connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship between a memory card connector according to the present invention and an electronic still camera and other devices.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a digital signal processing circuit in the memory card type connector of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a command data table used for the communication cable of the memory card type connector of the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 memory card type connector body 2 connection terminal 3 communication cable 11 digital electronic still camera 12 memory card mounting part on camera side 13 memory card 14 memory card type connector 15 external storage device 16 memory card mounting part on external storage device side 22 camera and Data line between memory card 23 Address line between camera and memory card 24 Control signal line between camera and memory card 25 Memory 26 Memory 28 Parallel / serial conversion circuit 29 Serial / parallel conversion circuit 30 RS232C driver 32 Memory card type connector System controller

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic still camera for recording a still image on a memory card, wherein a connector having the same shape as the memory card and connected to a communication cable is attached to a memory card attachment portion of the electronic still camera, An electronic still camera, which transmits and receives data to and from an external information device via a communication cable connected to the connector. 2. An electronic still camera, characterized in that a data processing circuit is built in a connector connected to the communication cable according to claim 1 for transmitting and receiving data.