JP2526820B2 - Camera with built-in flash device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a camera incorporating a flash device.

(Prior Art) Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63-195637 has been proposed as a camera having a flash light emitting unit that is driven up and down by incorporating a flash light emitting unit that can be moved up and down above a pentaprism of a camera body. . According to the proposal, the forward and reverse rotations of the motor are directly connected to the flash light emitting portion by the gear train to perform the up-down operation.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-75232 has also been proposed in which the flash light emitting portion is similarly moved up and down electrically.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the former conventional example, when the flash light emitting unit is in the up state, the flash light emitting unit does not move even if it is directly pressed by the hand when the flash light emitting unit is stored in the camera body. At the same time, it is troublesome, and there is a concern that the transmission gear train may be damaged by the action of such an external force.

Further, in the latter prior art, a structure in which a spring absorbs light is provided so that the flash light emitting portion can be directly pushed when the flash light emitting portion is in the up state, but for that reason, the flash light emitting portion is in the up state from the down state. It is necessary to charge another spring, which is stronger than the above spring, to drive the motor, and there is a problem that the load on the motor is large.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, and to provide a camera with a built-in flash device which can push down the strobe in the down direction by an external force and which does not increase the load on the motor.

(Means for Solving Problems) In order to solve the above problems, in a camera in which a flash light emitting unit is attached to a camera body so that the flash emitting unit can be moved up and down, a motor and a flash light emitting unit are placed between an up state and a down state. It is possible to displace it, and it is also possible to displace between the first state and the second state by the rotation of the motor, and in the second state, a drive transmission system that holds the flash light emitting unit in the down state, and a flash light emission. Switch that detects the displacement of the flash unit from the up state to the down state, and a drive that drives the motor to displace the drive transmission system to the second state when the switch detects that the flash emission unit has shifted to the down state. And a control means.

(Operation) In the camera with a built-in flash device having the above configuration, when the flash light emitting section is displaced to the down state by an external force while the flash light emitting section is in the up state, the switch detects this and displaces the drive transmission system to the second state, It is possible to hold the flash light emitting unit in the down state.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a drive mechanism of a single-lens reflex camera to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a bayonet mount for mounting an interchangeable lens, and 2 is a pentaprism. Reference numeral 3 denotes a flash case in which a light emitting unit of the flash device is housed, and an arc tube 4 is disposed inside the flash case.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a substrate for holding the flash case 3, which is rotatably provided by a shaft 36 with respect to the camera body.
The shaft 36 is also provided coaxially on the opposite side 5c of the substrate 5 (not shown). This board 5 is a pin implanted in the camera body
A spring 34 hung on 35 urges it clockwise in the figure.

A shaft 6 is fitted and inserted in a part 3b of the flash case 3, and the flash case 3 is guided by the shaft 6 and is attached to the shaft 6
It is movable in the axial direction. Axis 6 is an arm of substrate 5
Both ends are fixed by 5a and 5b. Also, the arm 5a
A compression spring 7 is provided between the flash case 3 and a part 3b of the flash case, and urges the flash case 3 toward the right side in the drawing with respect to the substrate 5.

In front of the flash case 3, a diffuser plate (not shown) for diffusing the irradiation light from the arc tube 4 is fixed to the substrate 5. Therefore, when the flash case 3 moves in the axial direction of the shaft 6 as described above, the distance between the arc tube 4 and the diffusion plate changes, which changes the flash irradiation angle.
The so-called zoom flash function is achieved.

Motor on the front side of the film rewinding part
10 is provided, and its output is transmitted from the pinion gear 11 through the reduction gear trains 12, 13, and 14 to the gear 15 that rotates integrally with the gear 14. The gear 15 transmits the rotation of the gear 14 and is movable in the vertical direction. With this movement, when the gear 15 is in the lower position, it is to the gear 18, and when it is in the upper position, it is to the gear 40. Transmit rotation.

The gear 15 is biased upward by a compression spring 17 provided on a substrate 16 fixed to the camera body. In the state shown in FIG. 1, the upper surface of the gear 15 is in contact with a cam surface 42a provided on the lower surface of the operation member 42, which will be described later, and the gear 15 is at the lower side, that is, in a position meshing with the gear 18.

The rotation transmitted to the gear 18 is further transmitted to the gear 24 from the gear 19, a bevel gear 20 integrally provided with the gear 19, via the bevel gear 21, gears 22 and 23. A gear 27 meshes with a gear 25 provided integrally with the gear 24, and the gears 25, 27 and the arm 26 constitute a planetary gear mechanism as a switching means. The shafts of the gears 12 to 15 and 18 to 25 described above are all fixedly mounted on the camera body or a substrate integrally provided with the camera body. The shaft of the gear 27 is fixed to the arm 26.

A gear 28 that can mesh with the gear 27 is provided on the substrate 5 so as to rotate integrally with the gear 29, and the gear 29 further transmits the rotation to the gear 31 via the gear 30. These gears 30 and 31 are also rotatably fitted on a shaft (not shown) provided on the substrate 5. On the gear 31 is a pin 31 described later.
a is planted and can be engaged with a brim 3a provided at one end of the flash case 3. The rotation position of the gear 31 depends on the position detection pattern 31b provided on the gear 31 and the substrate 5
It can be detected by the electrical connection state with the brush 8 provided on the. The pattern 31b and the brush 8 constitute the position detecting means 51.

A gear 32, which engages when the gear 27 is in the position (27) in the figure, is rotatably supported by the camera body, and one surface thereof is engaged with the arm portion 5d of the substrate 5 described above. The compatible pin 32a is planted.

Further, a position detection pattern 32b is provided on the other surface, and the brush 33 provided on the camera body and the pattern
The rotational position of the gear 32 can be detected by the electrical connection state with 32b. The pattern 32b and the brush 33 constitute the position detecting means 52.

37 is a cover for covering the substrate 5, one end of which is a shaft 37
It is pivotally supported by the camera body by a, and the other end pops up (separates) from the camera body so that the flash can be used (the separated position), and the other end is close to the camera body and the flash cannot be used. It is possible to swing between the pop-down position (proximity position). Further, the cover 37 is urged in the counterclockwise direction in the figure, that is, in the direction (pop-down direction) in which the cover is closed by a spring 38 hung on a pin 39 provided on the camera body. The inner surface of the cover 37 is provided with a convex portion 37b described later.

Reference numeral 42 denotes an operation switch provided on the outer surface of the camera for rewinding the film. By sliding 42 to align the index 42b with the indexes 43 and 44 on the outer surface of the camera, the rewinding operation is switched. As described above, in the state of FIG. 1 in which the index 42b corresponds to the index 43, the cam surface 42a provided on the lower surface of the operation switch 42 pushes the gear 15 downward and the gear 18
Is meshing with. When the index 42b is aligned with the index 44, the switch 45 is turned on, the engagement between the cam surface 42a and the upper surface of the gear 15 is released, and the gear 15 moves upward by the action of the spring 17 and meshes with the gear 40. The gear 40 further meshes with the gear 41 to rotate the fork portion 41a provided on the gear 41. The fork portion 41a engages with the hub at the spool end of the 35 mm film cartridge, and rewinds the film into the cartridge at the end of shooting. Reference numeral 46 denotes a switch which is turned on when the above-mentioned substrate 5 is in the proximity (popdown) to the camera body.

Next, the operation of each mechanical portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described individually. FIG. 1 shows a state where the flash case 3 is popped up, that is, a state where the cover 37 is separated from the camera body and the flash can be used. When the motor 10 is first rotated counterclockwise in this state, the rotation is
The gear 25 is turned clockwise through 11 to 15 and 18 to 24. Along with this, the arm 26 also rotates right about the axis of the gear 25 and the gears 27 and 28.
28 meshes with and turns right. Therefore, the gear 29 also rotates clockwise, and the gear 31 also rotates clockwise via the gear 30.

When the motor 10 rotates clockwise, the gear 25 similarly rotates counterclockwise, which causes the arm 26 to rotate counterclockwise coaxially with the axis of the gear 25, disengaging the gears 27 and 28, and the gear 27 meshes with the gear 32. . Therefore, the gear 32 rotates counterclockwise.

Next, the relationship between the flash case 3 and the gear 31 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2A to 2C show the movement of the flash case 3 as the gear 31 rotates. Since the reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG. 1, their explanations are omitted. However, 50 indicates a diffusion plate.

In FIG. 2, the gear 31 is driven clockwise by the motor 10. As a result, the implanted pin 31a also moves in the circumferential direction. First, in the state of FIG. 2 (a), the pin 31a is at the position farthest from the diffusion plate 50. At this time, the flash case 3 is biased to the right by the spring 7, so that the brim portion 3a contacts the pin 31a to determine its position. In this state, the positions of the arc tube 4 and the diffusion plate 50 are farthest apart, and the flash irradiation angle becomes narrow. This is called a tele-zoom state (minimum irradiation angle position of the first invention, longest position of the second invention). At this time, a signal indicating the tele-zoom state from the position detecting means 51 (tentatively called a tele-signal)
Is output.

Next, FIG. 2 (b) shows a state in which the gear 31 is turned clockwise by about 90 °. As the gear 31 rotates to the right, the pin 31a
Push a to the left to move the flash case 3 leftward against the biasing force of the spring 7. The position shown in FIG. 2B corresponds to an intermediate position between the tele-zoom state and the wide-zoom state, which will be described later, and this is called the normal zoom state. At this time, the position detecting means 51 outputs a normal signal.

Further, FIG. 2C shows a state in which the gear 31 is further rotated rightward and the pin 31a is closest to the diffusion plate 50. At this time, arc tube 4
And the diffusion plate 50 are closest to each other, and the irradiation angle of the flash is widened. This is called a wide zoom state (the maximum irradiation angle position of the first invention, the shortest position of the second invention). At this time, the wide signal is output from the position detecting means 51.

When the gear 31 is further rotated rightward, the flash case 3 is moved to the right by the force of the spring 7 and returns to the state shown in FIG. 2 (a). In other words, one rotation of the gear 31 causes the flash case 3 to reciprocate between the tele-zoom position and the wide-zoom position. In this process, when the pin 31a reaches the upper end in FIG. 2, the flash case 3 is at the same position as in FIG. 2 (b), but at this time, the position detecting means 51 does not output a signal.

Next, the overall movement will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 (a)-(b). In FIG. 3, the transmission system from the motor 10 to the gear 24 in FIG. 1 is omitted.

First, FIG. 3A shows a state where the flash case 3 pops up. At this time, the pin 32a planted in the gear 32 is at the position shown in the figure as described later. 47 in the figure
Is a top cover of the camera, 48 is an accessory shoe for mounting when using another flash device, 49
Is a pin implanted in the camera body.

In the state of FIG. 3 (a), the substrate 5 is urged by the action of the spring 34 of FIG. 1 about the shaft 36 in the clockwise direction, that is, in the direction in which the flash case 3 rises. The swinging due to this urging is restricted by the one end 5d of the substrate 5 coming into contact with the pin 49 implanted in the camera body, forming the pop-up state shown in the figure. At this time, the cover 37 has a lower surface 37c.
Is lifted by the upper portion 5e of the substrate 5 and is rotated right about the shaft 37a, and the tip 37d thereof is moved to a position displaced by 1 from the end 5f of the substrate 5 as shown in the figure. This distance 1 is almost the same as the moving amount 1'from the tele-zoom state to the wide-zoom state of the flash case 3 described above, so that in the pop-up state, as shown by (3) in FIG.
And a convex portion 37b of the cover 37, a space is formed in which the flash case 3 can move to the tele-zoom state. Here, the spring for urging the cover 37 shown in FIG. 1 as a counterclockwise direction is a spring 34 for urging the substrate 5 in the clockwise direction.
It is sufficiently weaker than that and does not hinder the right rotation of the substrate 5. In this pop-up state, the switch 46 is in the OFF state. In this state, the position detecting means shown in FIG.
A signal (up signal) indicating pop-up is output from 52.

Now, when the gear 25 is rotated clockwise by the motor 10, the arm 26 is also rotated clockwise as described above, and the gears 27 and 28 mesh with each other. Then, by turning the gear 28 clockwise, the flash case 3
Moves to the left and right in the figure, and zooming is performed.

Here, consider the case where the zooming is in the wide state, that is, the state indicated by 3 in FIG. The gear 25 rotates counterclockwise as the motor 10 reverses (clockwise), which causes the arm 26 to rotate counterclockwise as well.
The engagement with 28 is released. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2C, the center of the gear 31, the center of the pin 31a, and the contact point P of the pin 31a with the flange 3a of the flash case 3 are on a straight line, so that the flash case 3 by the spring 7 is used. Is no longer movable to the right, and the flash case 3 is held in the wide zoom state.

Now, when the arm 26 continues to rotate counterclockwise, the gear 27 meshes with the gear 32 and rotates the gear 32 counterclockwise. Therefore, the pin 32a planted in the gear 32 also moves and contacts the one end 5d of the substrate 5,
Press d to the right in FIG. 3 (a). By this pressing, the substrate 5 starts counterclockwise around the shaft 36 against the spring 34 of FIG. 1 and reaches the state of FIG. 3B, that is, the pop-down state.

In this process, the cover 37 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 37a by the action of the spring 38 shown in FIG. 1, and in the pop-down state, the end 37d of the cover 37 and the end 5f of the substrate 5 are substantially aligned with each other. This is a result of the fact that the swing center 36 of the substrate and the swing center 37a of the cover are different, and this has the effect of reducing the camera outline in the pop-down state.

The switch 46 is turned on in the pop-down state of FIG. 3 (b).
In addition, the position detecting means 52 shown in FIG. 1 outputs a signal (down signal) indicating pop-down. After that, when the motor 10 is turned to the right again, the gear 32 is also turned to the left, and the pin 32a is rotated.
With the movement of, the substrate 5 is rotated right by the action of the spring 34, and again shifts to the pop-up state of FIG. 3 (a). That is, one rotation of the gear 32 causes the cover 37 to reciprocate between the pop-up position and the pop-down position.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of a camera to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 37, 42, 47, and 48 are the members already described, so the description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 601 denotes a release button, and when pressed, the first switch is turned on in the middle of its stroke (this is called a half-press switch), and when it is pressed further, the second switch is turned on (this is called a release switch). An external display member 61 using a liquid crystal or the like is provided on the upper surface of the camera, and the display member 61 displays a shutter speed, an aperture value, etc., and a status display of a flash device described later. Reference numeral 62 denotes a finder observation window, and a display device is also provided in this finder. Reference numeral 63 denotes a button for selecting a flash photographing mode, which will be described in detail later.

5 (a) to 5 (f) are views showing the display form of the above-mentioned display member. 5A to 5F, the upper stage shows the external display member 61, and the lower stage shows the display form of the display member in the finder. First, the meaning of each display will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 (a) shows a case where all flash-related display segments are shown for the sake of explanation, which is different from the display in the actual use state. Further, in FIG. 5, other displays such as shutter speed which are not directly related to the present invention are omitted.

First, in FIG. 5A, reference numeral 70 is a segment indicating that the flash photographing mode is in the “auto” state described later, and the display disappears in modes other than auto. 71 and 72 are segments that indicate whether or not the flash is to be emitted. When only 71 is displayed and 72 is off, the flash is emitted. The flash does not fire when both 71 and 72 are displayed. 7
1 and 72 are displayed on both the external display and the viewfinder display. Reference numeral 73 is a segment indicating the charge state of the flash device, and is in a state where flash light is emitted, that is, the display 71 is displayed and 72 is off, and when this 73 is displayed, it indicates that charging is completed. When the symbol 73 is not displayed, it means that the battery is being charged. As will be described later, the 73 may perform a blinking display without flashing. This is a display recommending the use of the flash to the photographer (note that this blinking display is indicated by the broken line in FIG. 5). The display states shown in FIGS. 5B to 5F will be described later.

Next, the electric circuit block of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, hoisting control circuits and the like not directly related to the present invention are omitted. In FIG. 6, 10
0 is a microcomputer. The microcomputer 4 has a switch 4
5, 46, 63 and position detecting means 51, 52, half-press switch 101,
The release switch 102 is connected. Half-press switch 1
The timer 103 provided between 01 and the microcomputer 100 forms a so-called half-press timer that keeps the camera power on for a certain period of time even if the half-press switch is turned off. A line 111 for inputting a signal indicating the release completion output from the microcomputer is also connected to the timer 103 along with the half-press switch 101.

The operation of the timer 103 will be described. First, press the release button (60 in Fig. 4) of the camera halfway to turn on the half-press switch 101.
Then, the timer 103 is reset and an H level signal is output to the line 113. Microcomputer 100, line 1
It is recognized that the half-push timer turns on when 13 is at the H level, and that the half-push timer is off when at the L level. If the half-push switch 101 is turned off without turning on the release switch 102 as it is (that is, if the finger is released from the release button), the line 113 is connected for several seconds (for example, about 7 seconds) from the time when it is turned off. Hold at H level and then drop to L level.

Further, when the release switch 102 is turned on and the shooting operation of the camera is performed, the signal output to 111 is received when the shooting operation is completed, and the half-push switch 101 is turned on at that time.
If it is FF, the line 113 is held at the H level for about 1 second after the signal is received from the 111, and then dropped to the L level. If the half-push switch 101 is ON at the time when the signal is received from 111, the line 113 becomes L level in about 7 seconds after the half-push switch is turned off as described above.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a display drive circuit, which receives the command from the microcomputer and receives the external display device 61 and the in-viewfinder display device 10 described above.
Drive 5 Reference numeral 106 denotes a motor drive circuit, which drives the above-described motor 10 based on a command from the microcomputer.

The flash control circuit 107 is a circuit that controls the light emission of the flash light emitting unit 4 described above, and a signal for supporting the start of charging or the like is sent from the microcomputer to the flash control circuit. A signal indicating the completion of charging is sent from the flash control circuit to the microcomputer.

Reference numeral 109 denotes a flash use determination circuit, which performs a predetermined analysis on the output from the photometric circuit 108 of the camera, determines whether a flash is necessary, and sends the result to the microcomputer.

Reference numeral 110 denotes a focal length information output circuit provided in the interchangeable lens L, which sends an fmm signal indicating the focal length of the lens to the microcomputer via the line 114.

Next, the operation of the entire embodiment, which is integrally controlled by the microcomputer 100, will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7 to 14.

First, when the half-push switch 101 is turned on, the operation is started from step S1 in FIG. In step S2, a charge start signal is output to the flash control circuit 107. The output of the charge start signal is stopped when the charge is completed. In step S3, the current flash mode is confirmed. Then, in steps S4 and S5, the control routine is branched to the control routine according to the current flash mode.

Here, the flash mode will be described. The camera according to the present embodiment has three flash emission modes: auto, on, and off.

Auto mode is a mode in which the camera automatically determines whether to fire the flash according to the brightness of the subject, and ON mode is a mode in which the flash is forced to fire regardless of the brightness of the subject. The OFF mode is a mode in which the flash emission is prohibited uniformly.

Switching between these modes is performed by the switch 63. When the switch 63 is turned on, the processing of the microcomputer shifts to the mode interruption shown in FIG. In this routine, turn ON if the current flash mode is auto, turn OFF if ON, O
If it is FF, it will be changed to auto, that is, every time the switch 63 is pressed, the flash mode will be auto → on → off
→ ... and so on. After this,
The process returns to the normal process in step S108.

The processing in the auto mode will be described below. FIG. 9 shows the processing in the auto mode. In this auto mode, the light emitting unit pops up when the subject has low brightness, and once popped up, this state is maintained.

When the processing in the auto mode is started in step S6, it is determined in step S9 based on the input from the flash use determination circuit 109 whether or not the flash is necessary. If the flash is not required here, the process proceeds to step S10, and the flash control circuit 107 is instructed to emit light. Then, in step S11, display segments, that is, 70, 71 and 72 in FIG. 5A are displayed. This state is shown in FIG. 5 (c). After this, the process returns to step S9.

If it is determined in step S9 that the flash is necessary, the state of the position detecting means 52 is read in step S12. Then, in step S13, it is determined whether the gear 32 is in the pop-up position. If the gear 32 is not in the up position, the process proceeds to step S14, the motor 10 is turned clockwise, and the gear 32 is rotated as described above.
Rotates to raise the substrate 5. When the up is completed, the process proceeds to step S15, and a signal for permitting the flash emission is sent to the flash control circuit 107.

Next, in step S16, the f mm signal indicating the focal length is read from the focal length information output circuit 110 in the lens L, and in step S17, the position of the flash case 3 is read from the position detecting means 51. Then, in step S18, the two are compared, and if they do not match, step S1
Turn the motor counterclockwise with 9 and, as mentioned above, flash case 3
Zoom in.

If they match in step S18, it is determined in step S20 whether or not a signal indicating completion of charging is output from the flash control circuit 107. If charging is completed, step S21
Display segments 70, 71 and 73 with. This state is shown in FIG. 5 (b). When charging is not completed, the segment 73 is turned off in step S22, and in any of steps S21 and 22, the process is returned to step S9.

As described above, in the operation in the auto mode, the light emitting unit is automatically popped up only when the subject needs to be flashed, and the light emitting unit is zoomed according to the focal length of the attached photographing lens. .

Even if the subject changes after popping up once and it is determined that the flash is not needed, the flash is only required and the pop down is not performed. , Pop-down is not frequently done.

Further, since it is displayed to the photographer by the display member whether or not to emit light, the system is easy to use.

Next, the ON mode processing will be described. FIG. 10 shows the processing in the ON mode. Steps in Figure 10
The ON mode processing is started in S7, but steps S23 to S31 are executed from step S12 to step S2 in FIG.
Same as up to 0. That is, in the ON mode, pop-up is performed regardless of the brightness of the subject, the light-emitting unit is zoomed, and the flash is emitted for each release. The display state in step S32 is shown in FIG. 5 (d). Step S3
2 or step S27 in the step following step S33
Processing is returned to.

FIG. 16 shows an embodiment according to the present invention of processing in the automatic mode. In FIG. 16, step S51
It is determined whether or not the half-push switch is ON. If the half-push switch is ON, the process proceeds to step S52. Since the processing from step S52 to step S65 is the same as the processing from step S9 to step S22 in FIG. 9, description thereof will be omitted. When the half-push switch is off, the processing is stopped, and the pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting unit and the irradiation angle position are maintained in the state immediately before the half-push switch is turned off.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the auto mode, pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting unit and zooming of the light emitting unit are performed only when the half-push switch is ON, and the finger is released from the release button. Despite this, since the power is on, unnecessary pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting part and zooming of the light emitting part are prevented.

Next, the processing in the OFF mode will be described. Figure 11 shows O
The process in FF mode is shown. OFF at step S8
Mode processing begins. First, in steps S34 and S35, it is determined whether the gear 32 is in the down position. If it is not in the down position, the signal of the position detecting means 51 is read in step S36, and it is determined in step S37 whether or not it is the wide zoom position.

If it is not in the wide-zoom state, the motor is turned left in step S38 to zoom the flash case 3, and the driving to the wide-zoom state is controlled by the loop returning to step S36. This is a process for achieving compactness in the housed state.

In the wide zoom state, the motor is rotated right in step S39, and the pop-down operation of the substrate 5 is performed as described above. Then, the loop returning to step S34 drives the pop-down position. If it is determined in step S35 that the position is in the popped-down position, in step S40 the flash control circuit 107 is instructed to prohibit flash emission, and in step S41, 71 and 72 of the display segments are first displayed. Further, in step S42, it is determined whether or not the flash emission is necessary, and if it is necessary, a flash recommendation display is displayed to the photographer in S43, and if not necessary, the display in 73 is extinguished in S44. The display state in step S43 is shown in FIG. 5 (e), and the display state in step S44 is shown in FIG. 5 (f). After that, the process returns to step S42, and the display is switched to one of FIG. 5 (e) and (f) depending on whether or not the flash is necessary at that time.

As described above, in the processing in the OFF mode, if the light emitting unit is popping up, it is first brought down. At this time, as described in the explanation of FIG. 3, the flash case 3
Since the down drive is performed after driving the to a wide position, a compact outer shape is achieved in the down state.

Further, after down, the light emission is prohibited and a message to that effect is displayed, and when the flash use determination circuit 109 determines that the flash should be used, the display segment 73 blinks to prompt the photographer to use the flash. You can prevent shooting mistakes.

The operation in each of the auto, ON, and OFF modes has been described above. In each mode, the release switch 102
When is turned on, the process moves to the release interrupt operation and the release operation is performed. The release interrupt may be prohibited when it is not suitable to perform the release, such as when the motor 10 is being driven or when the flash is necessary in the auto mode or the ON mode but the charging is not completed.

Next, the operation when the timer 103 is turned off will be described. As described above, the timer 10 is activated 7 seconds after the half-push switch 101 is turned off or 1 second after the release operation is completed.
The output 113 of 3 switches from the H level to the L level. In response to this, the microcomputer 100 shifts to the timer OFF interrupt shown in FIG.

In step S111, the timer OFF interrupt process is started.
First, the current flash mode is confirmed in steps S112 and S1130, and if it is not the auto mode, the process returns to the normal process. In the ON mode, the light emitting unit keeps popping up, and in the OFF mode, the light emitting unit keeps popping down.

In the auto mode, steps S115 and S116
It is determined whether or not it is in the popped-down position. Here, the processing returns to the normal state even when the pop-down position is reached.

If it is not in the pop-down position, steps S117 to S120 are performed. This is the same as steps S36 to S39 in FIG. 11 described above, and the operation of popping down the light emitting portion is performed. When the pop-down is completed by the step of returning from step S120 to step S115, the process shifts from step S116 to step S114 and returns to the normal process.

The above processing indicates that when the light emitting unit pops up in the auto mode, the pop-down operation is automatically performed when the half-press timer of the camera is turned off. As a result, the light emitting unit is housed when the photographing is suspended, and the device is compact, so that the portability is improved.

Also, when the flash mode is ON mode, the light emitting part does not pop down even if the half-press timer is turned off.
It is possible to use the flash properly depending on the photographer's intention of using the flash.

In this embodiment, this timer is also used for powering the camera, but a timer dedicated to the flash pop-down control may be provided. Although the operation time of the timer is set to 7 seconds after the half-press switch is turned off or 1 second after the release operation is completed, this time may be set arbitrarily or may be variable according to the photographer's preference.

Next, in the present embodiment, an operation in the case where the light emitting unit is forcibly popped down by an external manual force while the light emitting unit is popping up in the auto mode or the ON mode will be described.

FIG. 15 (a) is a view of the pop-up state of FIG. 3 (a) seen from the back side. The gears 29, 30, 31 are omitted.

In FIG. 15 (a), 71 is a gear planted in the arm 26.
It is the axis of 27, and 71a is its head. This head 71a is
In FIG. 15 (a), when the arm 26 rotates counterclockwise and the gears 27 and 28 mesh with each other, the outer periphery of the head portion 71a and the end portion 5g of the substrate 5 come into contact with each other to maintain an appropriate axial distance between the gears 27 and 28. Plays a function. The end 5g is an arc centered on the axis of the gear 28.

Now, consider the case where the case 37 is forcibly pushed in the down direction by an external force, that is, the case 37 is rotated right about the shaft 37a. Case 37 bottom surface 37c
Pushes the upper part 5e of the substrate 5, and the substrate 5 also pushes the shaft 36 against the spring 34.
Turn right around. Further, as the substrate 5 is turned clockwise, the end portion
Since 5g pushes 71a, the arm 26 rotates right about the axis of the gear 25.

In the above process, if the flash case 3 is located at a position other than the wide zoom position, the convex portion of the case 37
37b pushes the rear end of the flash case to move the flash case 3 in the wide direction against the spring 7.

FIG. 15B shows the state in which the pop-down position is forcibly rotated in this way. Compared to the case where the light emitting portion is popped down by the motor 10 shown in FIG. 3 (b), the position of the pin 32a is in the up position and the gear 27.
Is engaged with the gear 28. Even in the state of FIG. 15 (b), since the axial distance between the gears 27 and 28 is secured by the contact between the end portions 5g and 71a of the substrate 5, when the gear 25 is rotated counterclockwise, the gear 28 is moved to the gear 28. Rotation can be transmitted.

When the switch 46 is turned on in the state of FIG. 15 (b), the process of the microcomputer 100 shifts to the down interrupt process shown in FIG.
This process does not matter whether the pop-down of the light emitting unit is completed electrically by a motor or manually from the outside. That is, regardless of whether the light emitting unit is popped down by electric power or manually, this processing is performed when the pop down is completed.

In FIG. 13, the down interrupt process is started in step S121. First, the state of the gear 32 is determined in steps S122 and S123. Here, when the gear 32 is in the down state, that is, in the position shown in FIG. 3 (b), the flash emission prohibition is commanded in step S124, and the normal processing is returned in step S125. When the pop-down of the light emitting unit is performed by the motor, the process immediately returns to the normal process.

If the gear 32 is not in the down position in step S123, that is, the state shown in FIG. 15 (b), step S126.
First, the flash mode is uniformly set to the auto mode.

Subsequently, the processing from step S127 to step S130 is performed, which is performed from step S36 to step S in FIG.
It is the same as the processing of 39. In step S128, it is determined whether or not the light emitting portion is in the wide zoom position. If the light emitting portion is in the wide zoom position, the process of clockwise rotation of the motor is started in step S130. This is a process performed to match the state of the gear 32 and the state of the substrate 5 based on the detection result of the position detecting means 52. If it is not in the wide zoom range, the motor is rotated left in step S129. This is a process performed to match the state of the gear 31 and the state of the flash case 3 based on the detection result of the position detecting means 51. After that, the process returns to step S127, and finally returns to step S125 by returning from step S130 to step S122.

As described above, if the light emitting portion is first popped down by the motor 10 and the switch 46 is turned on, the step
Immediately branch from S123 to step S124, and exit from this interrupt processing.

On the other hand, when the switch 46 is turned on by popping it down by a manual force from the outside, the motor 10 operates and the normal popping down operation is performed. Therefore, if you want to pop down the flash from the pop-up state, the button in Fig. 4
Even if you do not change the mode by pressing 63, you can pop down by pressing down the cover 37, which is convenient.

When the cover 37 is pushed down from the ON mode to change to the pop-down state, the flash mode is automatically returned to the auto mode in step S126. It is also possible to prevent unnecessary flash emission due to forgetting to reset the mode.

Further, since the pop-down operation is all performed by the motor 10, a locking member for holding the substrate 5 at the down position is not necessary, and the cost can be reduced with a simple configuration.

Finally, the film rewinding operation in this embodiment will be described. Slide the lever 42 shown in Fig. 1 to move the index 42b
When 44 and 44 are matched, the meshing of gears 15 and 18 is released,
The gear 15 meshes with the gear 40 as described above.
At this time, when the switch 45 is turned on, the process of the microcomputer 100 shifts to the rewind interrupt process shown in FIG. In this interrupt process, the rewind interrupt process is started in step S131. Then, in step S132, the motor 10 is turned clockwise,
The rotation is transmitted to the fork portion 41a of the gear 41 to rewind the film. Then, in step S133, it is determined whether the rewind completion is detected by any method.
If the completion of rewind is not detected, the process returns to step S132, and if it is detected, the process returns from step S134 to normal processing. There are various well-known methods for detecting the completion of rewind, such as providing a switch for detecting the loading state of the film, and the description thereof is omitted here.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the irradiation angle conversion of the light emitting unit and the pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting unit do not directly drive the driven unit by the rotational force of the motor, but use the biasing force of the spring. Therefore, even if the light emitting portion that is popping up is pushed down by hand, it is possible to provide a highly safe camera without imposing an unreasonable load on the transmission system.

Further, in the present invention, the flash case is reciprocated once between the wide zoom position and the tele zoom position by rotating the motor in one direction, and the flash light emitting unit is moved between the pop down position and the popup position by rotating the motor in the other direction. Since it reciprocates once, another clutch is not necessary for displacing the flash light emitting portion from the pop-down position to the pop-up position and then displacing it again to the pop-down position.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the light emitting unit does not pop up unless the relays button is half-pressed. Therefore, even if the light emitting unit is housed in the case without turning off the power switch, The light emitting portion is not made to project carelessly.
Therefore, the pop-up mechanism is not forcibly damaged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drive mechanism of a camera with a built-in flash device to which the present invention is applied, FIGS. 2A to 2C are enlarged sectional views of an irradiation angle conversion drive system, and FIG. 3A and FIG. b) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the drive system of the light emitting unit, FIG. 4 is a rear view of the camera with a built-in flash device,
5 (a) to 5 (f) are diagrams showing a display mode portable in flash mode, FIG. 6 is an electric block diagram, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a mode interrupt. Processing, FIG. 9 is processing in auto mode, FIG. 10 is processing in ON mode, FIG. 11 is processing in OFF mode,
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a timer OFF interrupt process, FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a light emitting part pop-down interrupt process, and FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a rewind interrupt process.
(B) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the light emitting unit drive system, showing a case where the light emitting unit is manually forced to pop down. FIG. 16 shows the processing in the auto mode according to the present invention. (Explanation of symbols of main parts) 3 ... Flash case, 4 ... Flash light emitting section 5 ... Substrate, 7 ... Spring, 10 ... Motor 25, 27 ... Gear, 26 ... Arm 31 ... Gear, 31a …… Pin 34 …… Spring, 37 …… Cover, 50 …… Diffuser

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A camera in which a flash light emitting unit is attached to a camera body so that the flash emitting unit can be moved up and down, the motor and the flash light emitting unit can be displaced between an up state and a down state, and the motor A drive transmission system that is displaceable between a first state and a second state by rotation and that holds the flash light emitting unit in the down state in the second state; and a drive transmission system from the up state to the down state of the flash light emitting unit. A switch for detecting displacement, and drive control means for driving the motor to displace the drive transmission system to the second state when detecting that the switch has displaced the flash light emitting unit to the down state. A built-in flash device camera. 2. The edge cutting drive transmission system is provided with the position detecting means in the second state, and the drive control means detects that the switch is displaced to the down state of the flash light emitting section. Then, the camera with a built-in flash device according to claim 1, wherein the motor is driven until the position detecting means detects the second state of the drive train. 3. The camera with a built-in flash device according to claim 1, wherein the camera is a single-lens reflex camera, and the flash device is arranged above a pentaprism of the camera.