JP2003309756A - Mobile phone with zoom lens - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile phone with camera provided with a magnification mechanism by an optical zoom and capable of simply photographing an object independently of an imaging direction. <P>SOLUTION: A magnification mechanism using optical zooming provided with an imaging lens 38 and a plurality of zoom lenses 40, 42, and an imaging device 44 are placed in parallel between an operation section 14 and a liquid crystal monitor section 16 being a couple of flat cases and on a center axis of a hinge 18 acting like a hinge in a folded state. A turning plate 20 turnable is placed between the liquid crystal monitor section 16 and the hinge 18 to permit turning of the liquid crystal monitor section 16 with respect to the hinge 18 at an angle between 0 to 360-degrees and a friction function permits the liquid crystal monitor section 16 to be freely stopped at a desired angle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera-equipped mobile phone having a digital camera function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of camera-equipped mobile phones have been invented. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-22392
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4 (1994), in a mobile phone body provided with a digital camera, a first photographing window provided on a surface on which display means for displaying an image is arranged and a second photographing window provided on the back surface thereof. By providing a window and blocking either one of the input light from the first shooting window and the second shooting window,
A mobile phone with a camera is disclosed in which the input light from the other photographing window is focused on the display means. With this camera-equipped mobile phone, it is possible to switch the shooting direction without moving the trend means. For example, when shooting the user himself / herself, the shooting window located on the same surface as the display means is used for the LCD monitor. You can shoot while looking at the displayed through image. When photographing another person, the photographing window provided on the back surface of the display means may be used.

[0003]

However, in the conventional camera-equipped mobile phone as described above, since the taking lens is provided on the front surface or the back surface of the mobile phone main body, it is possible to reduce the size and thickness of the mobile phone main body. Along with this, the distance from the taking lens to the image pickup device is also short, and it is impossible to construct a camera-equipped mobile phone provided with a variable magnification mechanism by optical zoom. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera-equipped mobile phone equipped with a variable power mechanism by optical zoom.

Further, it is desirable that the user can perform zoom photographing while looking at the through image displayed on the display means regardless of the photographing direction, and can easily determine the photographing range.

[0005]

A portable telephone with a zoom lens according to the present invention is arranged between an operation section having operation buttons, an LCD monitor section having an LCD monitor, and the operation section and the LCD monitor section. The hinge portion and a rotary plate rotatably provided between the liquid crystal monitor portion and the hinge portion. The operation unit and the LCD monitor unit are a pair of flat housings,
It has a structure that can be folded through a hinge.
The dead space of the main body of the mobile phone has a shooting lens, a zooming mechanism with an optical zoom equipped with multiple zoom lenses, and an image sensor, and the user operates the zooming mechanism from the operation unit. It is possible.

A rotary plate provided between the liquid crystal monitor and the hinge can rotate the liquid crystal monitor with respect to the hinge at an angle of 0 to 360 degrees. You can stop freely at the desired angle. As a result, the user can view the through image zoomed in or out by rotating the liquid crystal monitor regardless of the shooting direction, and can easily determine the zoom magnification and the shooting range.

[0007]

1 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone 10 with a zoom lens adopting the present invention. The mobile phone body 12 includes an operation unit 14, a liquid crystal monitor unit 16, and an operation unit 1.
4 and a liquid crystal monitor unit 16 and a hinge portion 18, and a rotary plate 20 between the liquid crystal monitor portion 16 and the hinge portion 18.

The operation unit 14 has a large number of operation buttons 22 for operating the mobile phone main body 12, a mode setting button 23 for changing the mode between a telephone use mode and a digital camera use mode, and a photographing operation in the digital camera use mode. There is provided a shutter button 24 for performing a call and a microphone 26 which serves as a telephone receiver and collects voice. A liquid crystal monitor 28 for displaying communication information and images is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor unit 16.
And a speaker 30 which is paired with the microphone 26 and serves as a telephone receiver.

The liquid crystal monitor unit 16 is structured so as to be rotatable around the central axis 32 of the hinge unit 18, and the operation unit 1
It is openable and closable with respect to 4. The hinge portion 18 is provided with a click structure around the central axis 32 so that the posture can be maintained in a state where the liquid crystal monitor portion 16 is closed and a state where the liquid crystal monitor portion 16 is opened 180 degrees. Free stop can be performed at a desired angle in the range of 0 to 180 degrees. Further, as will be described later in detail, the pillar 34 of the hinge portion 18 has a hollow cylindrical shape, and a taking lens 38 is provided at one end thereof. The zoom lens 4 is provided inside the hinge portion 18.
0, 42, and the image sensor 44 are arranged in parallel with the taking lens 38.

A rotary plate 20 arranged between the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 and the hinge unit 18 rotates the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 by a rotary shaft 36.
It has a structure that can be rotated around. FIG. 2 shows the mobile phone 10 with a zoom lens in a state where the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 is rotated 90 degrees clockwise with respect to the hinge unit 18. The state shown in FIG. 2 is convenient, for example, when it is desired to take a picture of one's face, and while looking at one's face displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 28 as a through image captured from the taking lens 38,
It is possible to adjust the zooming mechanism from the operation unit 14 to determine the zoom magnification, and press the zoom shutter button 24 to shoot. Similarly, when photographing another person, the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 may be rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise with respect to the hinge unit 18. The rotary plate 20 rotates around the rotary shaft 36 in a state in which the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 is rotated 90 degrees clockwise with respect to the hinge unit 18 (a state in which the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 faces forward as shown in FIG. 2, that is, a state during self-shooting), 0. The posture can be maintained in three states: a state of facing (upward as shown in Fig. 1) and a state of rotating 90 degrees counterclockwise (a state of facing backwards, a state of photographing another person). It has a simple click structure. Also, at other angles, the friction function allows free stop at a desired angle, and the angle can be adjusted to a user-friendly angle.

Further, as will be described later in detail, when the rotary plate 20 is rotated clockwise and when it is rotated counterclockwise, the through image is inverted by 180 degrees, and the liquid crystal monitor 28 is displayed.
Is displayed in. That is, no matter which direction the rotary plate 20 is rotated, the image data is rotated by a predetermined angle so as to match the vertical direction of the liquid crystal monitor 28, and is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 28 as a through image. As a result, the top and bottom of the subject seen by the user and the top and bottom of the through image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 28 are in a state of being in agreement with each other, so that it is easy to see and shoot.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the hinge portion 18. The hinge portion 18 is a cylindrical support column 34 with a hollow inside.
And a support lid 46 that fits and fixes the column 34 in the hinge portion 18. A photographing lens 38 is provided inside the pillar 34.
A pair of two zoom lenses 40 and 42 and an image pickup element 44 are arranged side by side on the central axis 32 of the hinge portion 18. The two zoom lenses 40 and 42 are arranged in a rotatable cam 48, and constitute a zooming mechanism by optical zoom.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, description will be given of the configuration of the zooming mechanism based on the optical zoom, which is provided in the support column 34.
The first cam groove 48a on which the first zoom lens 40 slides
And the second cam groove 4 on which the second zoom lens 42 slides.
A cam 48 having a large gear 50 is provided so as to be rotatable, and is connected to the zoom motor 54 via the large gear 50 and the shaft gear 52. The first zoom lens 40 and the second zoom lens 42 are fixed to the holding members 56 and 58, respectively.
The holding members 56 and 58 are structured such that the other ends thereof are fitted into the linear guide grooves 60 engraved on the back surface of the column 34, and are slidable in the linear guide grooves 60.

The operation of the mobile phone 10 with a zoom lens configured as described above will be described. The user can change the mode between the telephone use mode and the digital camera use mode by performing a predetermined operation with the mode setting button 23 provided on the operation unit 14. FIG. 5 shows a mobile phone 10 with a zoom lens in the digital camera use mode.
The block diagram of is shown. When the mode is set to the digital camera use mode, the taking lens 38 and the zoom lens 40,
The subject light transmitted through 42 is converted into an electric signal by the image pickup element 44, subjected to signal processing by the signal processing circuit 62, temporarily stored in the display memory 64, and displayed as a through image on the liquid crystal monitor 28.

When a user wants to take a zoom image of a subject, the user performs a predetermined operation with the operation button 22,
A control signal can be sent to the motor driver 68 via the CPU 66. Upon receiving the control signal, the motor driver 68
Causes the zoom motor 54 to rotate by a specified amount. Then, the shaft gear 52 fixed to the zoom motor 54 and the cam 48
The cam 48 rotates via a large gear 50 fixed to the cam gear, and the respective cam grooves 48a and 48b push the holding members 56 and 58 to stop the first and second zoom lenses 40 and 42 at predetermined positions. To do. The user can obtain a desired shooting range by performing this operation and adjusting the zoom magnification while looking at the through image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 28.

Photographing is performed by using the shutter button 24 on the operation unit 14. When the shutter button 24 is pressed, C
The PU 66 stores the image data processed by the signal processing circuit 62 in the memory 70. In the memory 70, JPEG
A compression / decompression circuit 72 according to a method typified by MPEG or MPEG is connected, and the image data is compressed here and recorded on a recording medium 74 such as a memory card. Also, the image data recorded on the recording medium 74 is compressed / decompressed by the compression / decompression circuit 72.
It is also possible to decompress, read it into the memory 70, and display it again on the liquid crystal monitor 28.

Further, the user rotates the rotary plate 20 around the rotary shaft 36 at the time of photographing, so that the liquid crystal monitor unit 1
6 can be oriented at the desired angle. A rotation sensor 76 is connected to the rotary plate 20 and detects the direction in which the rotary plate 20 is rotating. Then, the image data is rotated by a predetermined angle and displayed as a through image on the liquid crystal monitor 28 so as to match the vertical direction of the rotated liquid crystal monitor 28. Therefore, the user can easily rotate the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 easily. You can take a picture.

In the present embodiment, the operation of the variable power mechanism is performed from the operation button 22 provided on the operation section 14, but in addition, a gear is built in the rotary plate 20 and the liquid crystal monitor section 16 is installed. The predetermined magnification may be set by moving it back and forth, left and right, and up and down.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, a photographing lens, a zooming mechanism by optical zoom consisting of two zoom lenses and a cam, and an image pickup device are arranged in parallel at a hinge portion of a mobile phone body. . Since the cam is rotated by performing a predetermined operation from the operation button via the motor driver and the zoom motor, it is possible to easily realize a zoom magnification desired by the user.

Further, a rotary plate is provided between the hinge part and the liquid crystal monitor part so that the liquid crystal monitor part can be freely stopped at a desired angle by a friction function. In addition, according to the rotation angle of the rotating plate, the image data is rotated by a predetermined angle and displayed as a through image on the liquid crystal monitor.
The top and bottom of the subject and the top and bottom of the through image displayed on the LCD monitor match regardless of the rotation angle of the rotating plate. As a result, the user can rotate the liquid crystal monitor unit to a convenient position and take a picture easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone with a zoom lens adopting the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a state in which the liquid crystal monitor unit of the mobile phone with a zoom lens is rotated 90 degrees clockwise with respect to the hinge unit.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view around a hinge portion of a mobile phone with a zoom lens.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a variable power mechanism provided by a hinge portion by an optical zoom.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram when a mobile phone with a zoom lens is set to a digital camera use mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Mobile phone with zoom lens 12 Mobile phone body 14 Operation part 16 LCD monitor 18 Hinge part 20 rotating plate 22 Operation buttons 28 LCD monitor 38 Shooting lens 40 First zoom lens 42 Second zoom lens 44 Image sensor

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mobile phone body equipped with a camera function having a built-in zooming mechanism by optical zoom, an operation section having various operation buttons, a liquid crystal monitor section having a liquid crystal monitor, and the operation section. A mobile phone with a zoom lens, comprising: a hinge part that plays a hinge between the liquid crystal monitor parts; and a rotary plate rotatably provided between the liquid crystal monitor part and the hinge part. A mobile phone with a zoom lens, wherein the liquid crystal monitor unit is a pair of flat casings, and the structure is foldable via the hinge unit. 2. A photographing lens, a zooming mechanism by optical zoom having a plurality of zoom lenses, and an image pickup device are arranged side by side on the central axis of the hinge portion in the hinge portion. The mobile phone with a zoom lens according to claim 1. 3. The rotary plate is capable of rotating the liquid crystal monitor unit at an angle of 0 to 360 degrees with respect to the hinge unit, and a friction function provided on the rotary plate makes it possible to rotate the liquid crystal monitor unit at a desired angle. The mobile phone with a zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the mobile phone is capable of free stop. 4. A mobile phone main body is equipped with a camera function having a built-in optical zooming mechanism, and an operation section having various operation buttons, a liquid crystal monitor section having a liquid crystal monitor, and the operation section. A mobile phone with a zoom lens, comprising a hinge part that plays the role of a hinge between the liquid crystal monitor parts, wherein the hinge part is provided with a zooming mechanism by optical zoom having a taking lens and a plurality of zoom lenses. And the operation unit and the liquid crystal monitor unit are a pair of flat casings and are foldable via the hinge unit. Mobile phone with zoom lens.