JPH118791A - Electronic image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic image pickup device capable of improving the utilization efficiency of a space, improving assemblability and miniaturizing the device by arranging a super capacitor and a buzzer at the appropriate parts of a device body. SOLUTION: In this electronic image pickup device, in a free space formed by a photographing lens unit 22 disposed to the right end of a camera body and an optical finder unit 16 narrower than the unit 22 arranged at the upper part, the super capacitor 53 and the buzzer 55 in the state of being mounted to the lower surface side of a circuit board 63 for an operation are arranged. By arranging the super capacitor 53 and the buzzer 55 of a large shape in the free space in such a manner, space efficiency and the assemblability are improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic image pickup apparatus for recording an image taken by an image pickup device as electric image information, and relates to an arrangement of a super capacitor and a buzzer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a digital camera which is a conventional electronic image pickup apparatus, a supercapacitor for backing up data such as a date when a battery is replaced and a buzzer for generating a warning sound at the time of recording or abnormal operation are provided. It is built into the device. Since the supercapacitor has a large shape, it is often mounted on a power supply unit substrate near a battery storage room. Further, the buzzer is usually fixed to the back side of the exterior of the main body.

[0003]

However, in the conventional digital camera, the supercapacitor is
Although it is necessary to electrically connect to the operation microcomputer, a long harness must be arranged from the position where the above-mentioned supercapacitor is arranged to the position where the operation microcomputer is arranged. Similarly, the buzzer also needs to be connected with a long harness from the back of the exterior to the control microcomputer. Arranging such a long harness is not limited to a space problem, but also disadvantageous in assembling. Further, the supercapacitor and the buzzer are relatively large in shape, and require a dedicated arrangement space corresponding thereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a supercapacitor and a buzzer are arranged in an empty space of a main body of a device to increase the space utilization efficiency and improve the assemblability. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic imaging device capable of realizing improvement and downsizing of the device.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic imaging apparatus for recording an image captured by an imaging element as electrical image information.
A photographing lens unit is disposed at the right end of the electronic imaging device main body as viewed from the subject side, and on the upper surface portion of the electronic imaging device main body, for setting a photographing mode of the electronic imaging device, setting a date, and the like. An operation circuit board on which an operation switch is mounted is disposed, and the operation circuit board includes at least an operation microcomputer and an electronic imaging device in which a backup supercapacitor of the microcomputer is further mounted. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic imaging apparatus according to the first aspect, in addition to the supercapacitor, a buzzer for sound generation is mounted on an end of the operation circuit board. The electronic imaging device is disposed in a gap formed by the photographing lens unit, the optical finder unit, and an inner wall of the electronic imaging device main body.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A digital camera which is an electronic image pickup apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described from the structure around an exterior. 1 to 7 are external views of the digital camera. FIG. 1 is a front view in a barrier closed state, FIG. 2 is a front view in a barrier open state, and FIGS.
A left side view, a right side view, a plan view, a bottom view, and a rear view of the camera body. Each electric control system element such as a switch and an LED used in the following description will be described with reference to the block diagram of the electric control system in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the main body 1 of the digital camera is mainly composed of two exterior bodies, a front cover 20 and a rear cover 21. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, on the front surface of the front cover 20 of the main body 1, the photographic lens 22a of the photographic lens unit 22 and the optical finder window of the optical finder unit 16 (see FIG. 11) are located near the right end. 16b is provided. In addition, an opening / closing cover for protecting the taking lens 22a and the optical finder window 16b is provided for protecting the taking lens 22a and the optical viewfinder window 16b. Further, a self-timer display window 3 is provided in the lower right corner of the area not covered by the lens barrier 2.

The lens barrier 2 is used for photographing or
By sliding in the open / close direction when not shooting,
The taking lens 22a and the optical finder window 16b can be exposed or covered. A lens barrier switch 35 that is turned on / off in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the lens barrier 2 is provided inside the main body. As the switch 35 is turned on / off, the power of the camera system is turned on / off. In addition, the lens barrier 2
Is in the barrier open position, a click force is acting, and the barrier open state is maintained.

A flash window 19 is provided in the lens barrier 2, and a flash light emitting portion 59 (see FIG. 9) including a trigger transformer is accommodated therein, and slides integrally with the lens barrier 2. I do. As described above, by moving the strobe light emitting unit 59 together with the lens barrier 2, an appropriate distance between the photographing lens 22a and the strobe light emitting unit 59 at the time of shooting is ensured.

The self-timer display window 3 is a substantially elliptical semi-transparent member, and as shown in FIG.
It is arranged in a state of protruding from. A printed circuit board (not shown) in the main body 1 is provided inside the self-timer display window 3.
Is mounted on the LED 45. LED4 above
5 is controlled by the system controller 30 and emits light during the self-timer mode operation. However, since the display window 3 has the protruding elliptical shape as described above, the entire window shines, and the lighting state is an oblique direction other than the front. You can also observe from.

On the left side of the camera body 1, as shown in FIG. 3, a cover for a recording medium which can be opened and closed to cover an insertion slot 1d (see FIG. 10) of a mounting portion of a memory card 41 as an external recording medium. A certain card cover 4 is provided. The card cover 4 is rotatably supported by a hinge shaft 17 fixed to the main body 1 via a hinge portion 4b.

A card cover switch 36 which is turned on / off in conjunction with opening and closing of the card cover 4 is provided inside the main body 1. Therefore, if the camera is operated with the lid 4 not completely closed when the memory card 41 is inserted, the output of the lid switch 36 is detected, and a buzzer 55 emits a warning sound. So
Data recorded on the memory card 41 can be reliably protected.

The hinge portion 4b is provided at two locations in the upper and lower portions, and the body portion has a concave shape at an intermediate position, and the hinge shaft 17 for inserting the hinge portion 4b is exposed. Therefore, the hinge shaft 17 can be used as a shaft for hanging a portable hand strap.

An openable / closable external terminal cover 8 is provided on the right side of the camera body 1 as shown in FIG. Inside the external terminal cover 8, an external device jack 56 which is a terminal portion for video signal output and digital output, which will be described later,
The external power supply jack 54, which is an external power supply connection terminal portion, is accommodated. By closing the external terminal cover 8, dust can be prevented from entering each terminal portion when not in use. When the external terminal cover 8 is opened, the external terminal cover 8 can be opened by putting a finger on the external terminal cover 8 from a finger hook concave portion 12 (see FIG. 6) provided on the bottom surface side of the camera body 1.

On the upper surface of the camera body 1, a mode LCD 5 showing the state of each operation mode of the camera as shown in FIG.
In the center, three operation buttons 6a of the operation mode setting switch 6 are arranged on the right side and two on the left side. further,
An operation button 7a of the release switch 7 is provided on the upper left side. The release switch 7 is a recording instruction switch at the time of photographing by the camera. By operating the release switch 7, image information being captured can be recorded in the built-in memory 39 or the memory card 41.

On the bottom side of the camera body 1, as shown in FIG.
An openable and closable battery cover 10 for replacing a power supply battery 51 inserted in the battery storage chamber 1b (see FIG. 10) is provided. Also, a tripod screw 18 is provided slightly to the left of the center.

The battery lid 10 has an egg-shaped recess formed at the center thereof, and a rotatable operation knob 11 is provided in the recess. By rotating the operation knob 11, the internal lock mechanism is released, and the battery cover 1 is opened.
0 rotates about the hinge near the center of the camera body and opens, and the battery storage chamber 1b is opened. The battery can be replaced in the open state. The thickness of the operation knob 11 is set within the depth of the concave portion, and the knob 11 does not project from the bottom surface of the camera body 1.

On the rear side of the camera body 1, a color liquid crystal display 1 serving as an image display device is provided at the center as shown in FIG.
3 are provided. The display unit 13 is attached in a state where the display unit 13 is surrounded by an auxiliary cover 14. On the left side of the display unit 13, three operation buttons 15a of the LCD operation switch 15 are arranged side by side. Further, an eyepiece window 16b of the optical finder unit 16 for confirming a subject is provided in an upper portion of the rear surface.

As shown in the front view of FIG. 1 and the plan view of FIG. 5, a grip for holding the camera with the right hand at the time of shooting is provided on the left end side opposite to the side where the shooting lens 22a is located. A part 1a is provided. The grip portion 1a has a grip portion shape that protrudes rearward (display portion side) and swells and slightly expands frontward (photographing lens side), but has a shape that is almost flat. As will be described later, a memory card mounting portion 40 is provided inside the grip portion 1a at the front side, and the battery storage room 1b is provided at the rear side.

Next, the configuration of the control system of the digital camera according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of the control system shown in FIG. 8 and a schematic exploded perspective view of each circuit board shown in FIG. In the digital camera, as shown in FIG. 8, the control system mainly includes a main control unit, a recording medium mounting unit, a photographing optical unit, an imaging unit, an image display unit, an operation unit, a power supply unit unit. And a flash control unit.

The main control unit includes a system controller 30 for controlling the entire apparatus, and a digital processing circuit 3 for digitizing a video signal output from the imaging unit.
4, a built-in memory 39 for storing digital image signals,
A video encoder 42 converts the digital image signal into a video signal, and a digital I / F 43 for outputting the digital image signal to an external digital device.

The storage medium mounting section is a memory card 41
Comprises a memory card mounting section 40 which is a detachable external recording medium mounting section, and has a built-in card connector 40a. The main controller including the system controller 30 and the digital processing circuit 34 and the memory card mounting unit 40 are mounted on a single main circuit board 61.

The photographing optical section mainly includes a photographing lens 22a.
, A mechanical shutter 37, and a photographic lens unit 22 having a built-in focus control unit 38 for performing focusing control of the photographic lens 22 a.

The image pickup section mainly includes an imager 32 which is an image pickup device for converting a subject image taken through the photographing lens 22a into an electric image pickup signal, and processes an image pickup signal outputted from the imager 32. And a video processing circuit 33 that performs the processing. In addition, those constituent members are the imaging circuit board 6.
2 is implemented.

The image display section comprises a color liquid crystal display section 13 which is an image display device for displaying a photographed image or a reproduced image.

The operation section is mainly composed of a mode setting switch 6 for setting an operation mode and a color liquid crystal display section (color LC).
D) LCD operation switch 15 for selecting an image to be displayed on 13, release switch 7 for instructing capture of an image being captured, and LED 4 for self-timer display
5 and a mode LC for displaying the operation mode setting state
D5, a warning buzzer 55, and the output of each of the above switches are fetched and output to the system control 30, and LE
D45, mode LCD 5, operation microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as operation microcomputer) 29 for driving buzzer 55, and operation microcomputer 29 for backing up photographing information, date information, and the like at the time of battery replacement are backed up. It is composed of a super capacitor 53 and the like. The above-described components except for the LCD operation switch 15 and the LED 45 are mounted on the operation circuit board 63.

The power supply unit comprises a DC / DC converter 52 for converting an output voltage from a battery 51 into a supply voltage for a circuit. The supply voltage from the battery 51 is converted into each circuit drive voltage by the DC / DC converter 52, and each main circuit board 61, the color liquid crystal display unit 1
3, supplied to the imaging circuit board 62 and the operation circuit board 63.

The above-mentioned strobe control section mainly comprises a strobe circuit 57 for controlling light emission of the light emitting section 59, a main capacitor 58 for charging, and the like. The above strobe circuit 5
Reference numeral 7 denotes a circuit for controlling the charging of the main capacitor 51 and the light emission of the light emitting section 59 during flash photography.

The power supply unit having the DC / DC converter 52 and the strobe control section having the strobe circuit 57 are mounted on a single power supply / strobe circuit board 64. It is surrounded by one metal shield case 65 (see FIG. 10). The shielding by the shield case 65 in this way prevents the switching noise of the DC / DC converter 52 and the charging switching noise at the time of strobe light emission from leaking out of the circuit board 64. If this noise leakage is large, the quality of the captured image will deteriorate,
Problems such as not meeting the standard for unnecessary radiation occur.

The main capacitor 58 is provided between the battery chamber 1b and the power / strobe circuit board 64,
It is disposed adjacent to the circuit board 64 and is connected to the strobe circuit 57 by an extremely short harness (not shown).

The on / off signals of the memory card cover switch 36 for detecting the open / close state of the card cover 4 and the lens barrier switch 35 for detecting the open / close state of the lens barrier are directly input to the system controller 30. Further, an external power supply jack 54 to which an external power supply can be connected is provided.
Is connected to the DC / DC converter 52 of the power supply unit. The external device jack 56 is connected to the video encoder 42 or the digital I / F 43.

Next, the arrangement, operation, and the like of the components such as the photographing lens unit, the optical finder unit, the circuit boards, the color liquid crystal display, the battery storage chamber, and the memory card mounting section in the camera body 1 will be described. A schematic exploded perspective view of the circuit board of FIG. 9, a cross sectional view of FIG. 10, a front view of a partial cross section of FIG. 11, a plan view of a partial cross section of FIG. 12, and a partial cross section of FIG. This will be described with reference to the right side view and the like shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the left-right direction along the front surface of the camera body 1 is defined as a longitudinal direction (D0 direction).

As shown in FIG. 11, the photographing lens unit 2
Numeral 2 is disposed at the right end of the camera body 1, and an optical system finder unit 16 is disposed above the taking lens unit 22. O1 and O2 indicate the optical axes of the taking lens and the optical finder, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 10, the grip portion 1a of the camera body 1 is provided at the left end portion, and has a battery storage chamber 1b in which the battery 51 can be stored, a memory card insertion slot 1d, Further, a memory card mounting section 40 to which a memory card 41 can be attached and detached is provided.

The battery compartment 1b can accommodate four AA batteries, and is formed in the rear cover 21 as a space for four batteries. The loaded battery 51 is
The position is regulated by the wall of the storage room, and the positioning is performed stably. The outside of the battery storage chamber 1b forms a part of a grip portion 1a that protrudes from the surface of the color liquid crystal display portion 13 disposed on the rear side and rear side of the camera body 1.

The memory card mounting portion 40 is mounted on the main circuit board 61 at a position in front of the inner surface of the front cover 20 of the camera body 1 as far as possible with its main plane substantially parallel to the front surface of the camera. It is located in the corner on the front side of the part 1a.

As described above, the color liquid crystal display section 13 is provided on the rear side of the camera body 1 with respect to the memory card mounting section 40 provided on the front side of the camera body 1. In order to further reduce the length of the external shape in the longitudinal direction of the main body 1, the memory card mounting portion 40 has a tip portion 40.
b enters the color liquid crystal display unit 13 up to a position overlapping in the longitudinal direction.

The memory card insertion slot 1d can be opened and closed by a card cover 4. The card cover 4 can be locked to the camera body 1. The insertion slot 1d is provided with a space 1c that allows a fingertip to be inserted only on the back side of the rear end of the card when the memory card 41 is mounted.
Therefore, when the memory card 41 is mounted, the card cover 4
When the memory card 41 is opened, the front surface of the rear end of the memory card 41 is exposed, and a finger can be inserted into the space 1c, the rear end can be pinched, and the memory card 41 can be pulled out. In addition,
The card lid 4 is disposed at the corner of the gripping portion in accordance with the large curved shape of the gripping portion 1a. The card lid 4 is disposed on the lens opening direction side of the lens barrier 2.

Since the grip portion 1a has a shape protruding rearward from the surface of the display section 13 for the battery storage chamber 1b as described above, the camera is in a state in which the display section 13 is on the lower side. When placed on a table or the like, the display surface of the display unit 13 is protected without contacting the surface of the table.

On the other hand, the power supply / strobe circuit board 64 is disposed at a substantially central position in the camera body 1 along the longitudinal direction. Further, a main circuit board 61 is provided at a position adjacent to the front side of the power supply / strobe circuit board 64. Similarly, a color liquid crystal display unit 13 is provided at a position adjacent to the power supply / strobe circuit board 64 on the back side of the camera body.

An image pickup circuit board 62 is disposed on the oblique right rear side which does not overlap with the power supply / strobe circuit board 64 and behind the photographing lens unit 22.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, an operation circuit board 63 is disposed above the power supply / strobe circuit board 64 along the upper surface of the camera body 1. As described above, the supercapacitor 53 and the buzzer 55 are mounted on the operation circuit board 63, and the mounting position is on the lower surface side of the right end of the circuit board 63.

The lower surface of the right end of the circuit board on which the supercapacitor 53 and the buzzer 55 are mounted is a space formed by the combination of the taking lens unit 22 and the optical finder unit 16 having a smaller width.

As shown in FIG. 9, the power supply / strobe circuit board 64 is provided with direct connectors 74, 75 and 76 and a harness connector 77. The other circuit boards 61, 62, and 63 are provided with directly attached connectors 71, 72, and 73, respectively. Further, a connector 78 is connected to the liquid crystal display unit 13 at the tip of a short harness 79.

As described above, the power supply / strobe circuit board 6
4 with the other circuit boards 61, 62, 63 and
The liquid crystal display unit 13 is disposed adjacent to the front, rear, upper, right side, or the like. Therefore, the directly attached connectors 74, 75, 76 on the circuit board 64 can be easily fitted to the connectors 71, 72, 73 of the circuit boards 61, 62, 63, respectively. A connector 78 attached to a short harness 79 of the liquid crystal display unit 13 is fitted to 77, and a power supply line and a signal line are connected.

Next, the photographing operation of the digital camera according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. The subject image is captured via the taking lens 22a. Then, the optical signal is converted into an electric signal by the imager 32, and the image processing circuit 33 and the digital processing circuit 34
Is recorded as image information in the built-in memory 39 or the memory card 41 connected to the card connector 40a of the card mounting section 40. The image being captured or the image recorded in the built-in memory 39 or the memory card 41 can be displayed on the color liquid crystal display unit 13.

The image information recorded in the built-in memory 39 or the memory card 41 is transmitted to the video encoder 4.
2 is converted to a video signal and output as a video signal, or a digital interface (I / F) 4
3 and is output as a digital video signal. These outputs are taken out via an external device jack 56.

As described above, in the digital camera of the present embodiment, the photographing lens unit 22 disposed at the right end of the camera body 1 and the photographing lens unit 22 disposed above the camera body 1 are located at the upper right corner when viewed from the subject side of the camera body 1. There is an empty space formed by the optical finder unit 16 and the exterior of the main body 1, and a buzzer 55 and a super capacitor 53 are arranged in the empty space. That is, the buzzer 55 and the supercapacitor 53 are arranged in a state mounted below the right end of the operation circuit board 63 on which the operation microcomputer 29 and the operation switches are mounted.

Therefore, since the relatively large electrical parts are arranged by effectively utilizing the empty space formed by the photographing lens unit 22 and the optical finder 16 above the same, the internal space can be efficiently used. The size of the camera can be reduced. The buzzer 55 and the supercapacitor 53 are connected to the same circuit board 63 as the operation microcomputer 29.
Therefore, there is no need to provide a harness for electrical connection for driving or backing up the buzzer 55 and the supercapacitor 53.

[0051]

According to the electronic imaging device of the first aspect of the present invention, since the supercapacitor is mounted on the operation circuit board on which the backup operation microcomputer is mounted, the connection harness can be used. This is unnecessary, and the space for it is not required, so that the assemblability is improved and the cost is reduced.

According to the electronic image pickup apparatus of the present invention, the photographing lens unit and the optical finder unit, which is disposed above the photographing lens unit and is narrower than the photographing lens unit, and the gap formed on the inner wall of the apparatus body. Since the large-sized supercapacitor and the buzzer are mounted on the operation circuit board, the space efficiency is increased and the electronic imaging device can be downsized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an external appearance of a digital camera which is an electronic imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a barrier closed state.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the external appearance of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1, showing a barrier open state.

FIG. 3 is a left side view showing the appearance of the digital camera in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a right side view showing an appearance of the digital camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the appearance of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view showing the appearance of the digital camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a rear view showing the appearance of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a control system of the digital camera in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a circuit board incorporated in the digital camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the digital camera of FIG. 1;

11 is a front view showing the digital camera of FIG. 1 in a partial cross section.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the digital camera of FIG. 1 in a partial cross section.

13 is a right side view showing the digital camera of FIG. 1 in a partial cross section.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera main body (electronic imaging device main body) 29 ... Operation microcomputer (operation microcomputer) 32 ... Imager (imaging element) 63 ... Operation circuit board 53 ... Super capacitor 55 ... Buzzer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic imaging apparatus for recording an image captured by an imaging device as electrical image information, wherein a photographing lens unit is disposed at a right end of the electronic imaging apparatus main body as viewed from a subject side. An operation circuit board on which operation switches for setting a photographing mode of an electronic imaging device, setting a date, and the like are mounted is disposed on an upper surface of the apparatus main body, and at least the operation circuit board is provided on the operation circuit board. An electronic imaging apparatus, comprising: a microcomputer for use in a computer; and a backup supercapacitor for the microcomputer. 2. A sounding buzzer is mounted on an end of the operation circuit board in addition to the supercapacitor, and is formed by the photographing lens unit, the optical finder unit, and the inner wall of the electronic imaging device main body. The electronic imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic imaging device is disposed in a gap.