JP2602953B2 - Electronic instant camera - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a kind of electronic still camera, and more particularly to an electronic instant camera for printing an image obtained by photographing a subject on thermal paper.

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, an electronic still camera stores a video signal obtained by an image sensor in a storage medium such as a magnetic disk or a semiconductor memory. The stored video signal is reproduced into a visible image by an external device such as a liquid crystal display device or a printer.

Since the liquid crystal display device is small, it can be mounted integrally with the camera and can be reproduced and viewed on the liquid crystal display device immediately after imaging. However, commercially available telephone card printers of the smallest print size or printers of A6 size prints are large and heavy, so that it is impossible at present to integrate them into a camera. When I wanted to get a print, I had to input the playback output of the camera to a stationary printer and print it. Therefore, it was not possible to take a picture at a place where one went out with a compact camera and obtain a print on the spot.

Further, these electronic still cameras use a multi-pixel image sensor to increase the resolution in order to record high-quality images, and display devices and recording devices such as liquid crystal display panels and printers are also colored. On the other hand, it is not suitable for a compact camera-integrated printer (electronic instant camera) because it has the same multifunctionality as a camera and is heavy and large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and to provide an electronic instant camera that has a simple structure, is compact, and has high operability.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an electronic instant camera that captures a subject to obtain a video signal is provided by an imaging unit having a relatively small number of pixels for converting incident light incident from the subject into a video signal, and an imaging unit. Printing means for printing an image represented by the obtained video signal on the thermosensitive recording paper as a black-and-white visible image, and printing means and transport so that the video signal picked up by the imaging means is printed on a predetermined area of the thermosensitive recording paper. Control means for controlling the means, and prints an image represented by a video signal on a small area of the thermal paper.

Description of Embodiment Next, an embodiment of an electronic instant camera according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an electronic instant camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the electronic instant camera with an upper cover removed.

This electronic instant camera is a photographing apparatus that photographs a subject with an image pickup device 10 and prints the photographed image on a thermal paper 14 with a thermal head 12 as it is. In this electronic instant camera, basically, the thermal paper 14 is conveyed while being nipped and pressed by the thermal head 12 and the platen roller 54 via the roller 52, and at the same time, the visible image from the image sensor 10 is printed on the thermal paper 14 and discharged. Is what is done.

In the present embodiment, each of these components is housed in a single housing, and a small-sized and easy-to-operate electronic instant camera having a simple structure is configured.

This will be described in more detail with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. A lens 16 is arranged on the incident optical axis of the image sensor 10, and light from a subject enters the image sensor 10 through the lens 16. The material of the lens 16 may be a plastic single plate or glass. The focal length from the lens 16 to the imaging device 10 is fixed for simplification of the device. Image sensor 10
For example, a solid-state imaging device such as a two-dimensional CCD image sensor is advantageously applied. As described above, the number of gradations per pixel is increased by using the two-dimensional line sensor.
At 32, a print time of about 1 second can be taken.
As is well known, the CCD image sensor is a conversion element that outputs a video signal output according to the amount of incident light to the output line 26. The image sensor may have a relatively small number of pixels in a line in a predetermined direction corresponding to, for example, the number of pixels recorded by a heating element of a thermal head described later. For example, about 20,000 pixels (1 / 3 to 1/2 "optical system) to about 100,000 pixels (1/2 to 2/3" optical system). The image sensor 10 is connected to the image sensor driver 18 by a control line 28 and to the thermal head 12 by a signal line 26, respectively.

The imaging device driving unit 18 is controlled by a system control unit by a control line 30.
24, the image sensor 10 is driven by a control signal from the system control unit 24, a subject image corresponding to incident light from the subject is repeatedly converted into a video signal, and the converted video signal is repeatedly read. Then, the signal is directly transferred to the thermal head 12 by the signal line 28. The time for transferring the video signal starts from the time when printing is started (when the shutter 50 is pressed) in the area of the cutout portion 38 provided at a predetermined position of the thermal paper 14 until the printing is completed. This may be any time until the start of the next unprinted cut portion 38 coincides with the contact point between the thermal head 12 and the platen roller 54 (FIG. 2). Image sensor driver
Under the control of the system controller 24, the video signal 18 repeatedly outputs a video signal representing a screen of a plurality of frames (or a plurality of fields) during these printing times. Here, the start end and the end are defined as the start end and the end that comes into contact with the thermal head 12 in all the cut portions 38 on the thermal paper 14 respectively.

A clock signal necessary for adjusting the operation timing of each function of the electronic instant camera is determined by the characteristics of the image sensor 10, and is generated using, for example, a crystal oscillator 68. The transport speed of the thermal paper 14, that is, the print speed is determined in association with the clock signal. Of course crystal oscillator
Instead of 68, a PLL synthesizer (not shown) may be used.

The thermal head 12 is connected to the thermal head driving unit 20 by a control line 32, and has a heating element array in which a number of heating elements are linearly arranged, each of which generates heat according to information to be printed, and generates heat. It has a function of recording one scanning line on the thermal paper 14 at a time. The thermal head 12 is in contact with the platen roller 54 in parallel, and is disposed perpendicular to the direction in which the thermal paper 14 is transported. The capability of the thermal head 12 may be, for example, about 5 to 10 dots / mm corresponding to the number of pixels of one scanning line and the print size in the image sensor.

The thermal head drive unit 20 is connected to the system control unit 24 by a control line 34, and causes the thermal head 12 to generate heat according to a control signal from the system control unit 24. Thermal head
Reference numeral 12 denotes a plurality of frames (or a plurality of fields) output from the image sensor 10 while the area of one cut portion 38 on the thermal paper 14 passes on a tangent line between the platen roller 54 and the thermal head 12. In accordance with the video signal, heat is generated by one scanning line for each frame (or field), and recording of one screen is performed by transporting the thermal paper 14.
That is, the drive time includes a time period from when the starting end of the cut portion 38 of the thermal paper 14 passes while the pressing portion of the cut portion 38 of the thermal head 12 and the platen roller 54 is pressed to when the end of the cut portion 38 passes.

The mechanism 22 is connected to the system control unit 24 by a control line 36, and the thermal paper 14 is transported to the outside of the electronic instant camera while being pressed by the thermal head 12 and the platen roller 54 by a control signal from the system control unit 24. It has a function to drive the system. The rotation axis of the platen roller 54 is arranged perpendicular to the direction of transport of the thermal paper 14 and is in contact with the thermal paper 14. The transfer of the thermal paper 14 is performed by rotating the platen roller 54 by a motor (not shown).
The motor may be a DC motor or a stepping motor. The mechanism 22 transports the thermal paper 14 by a predetermined length at a constant speed, for example, 3 cm / sec, according to a control signal from the system control unit 24. The predetermined length is, for example, one notch
The length from the starting end of 38 to the starting end of the next cut portion 38.
The stop or standby position of the thermal paper 14 may be at the beginning of the cut 38 or between the cut 38 and the next cut 38. In order to obtain the predetermined length, the starting end may be read using a marker or a notch and a sensor on the thermal paper 14 (not shown), or may be read using the rotation speed or rotation angle of the platen roller 54 or the roller 52. .

The system control unit 24 is a control unit that controls the overall control of the present apparatus, and is advantageously implemented by, for example, a microprocessor. When the operator presses the shutter 50 to drive the thermal head 12 and the mechanism 22 to convey the thermal paper 14, the system control unit 24 repeatedly reads the video signal of the visible image from the image sensor 10, Make 14 print. When printing on the thermal paper 14 is completed, the thermal paper
It has a function of sending the sheet 14 to the outside and setting it so that the starting end of the not-printed cut portion 38 contacts the thermal head 12 and waits. Note that these series of operations of the drive unit are performed in synchronization with a clock signal.

The thermal paper 14 is long as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and has an adhesive layer 44, a paper layer 42, and a coloring layer 40 laminated on a release paper 46 in this order. The color-forming layer 40 is a layer that develops only one color such as black or blue due to the heat of the thermal head 12. The paper layer 42 may be made of synthetic paper or synthetic resin. The thermal paper 14 is provided with cutouts 38 for one screen at predetermined intervals. The cut 38 may be cut in a broken line as shown in the figure, or may be cut straight in the release paper 46 to the depth. The shape may be quadrilateral or circular or any shape. Further, cut lines 48 may be provided at regular intervals. The coloring layer 40 printed by such a cut line 38 can be peeled off from the release paper 46 after printing, and can be attached to another object. The size of the cut portion 38 may be, for example, about the size of a stamp, about 15 × 20 to 30 × 40 mm. The number of cut portions 38, that is, the number of printable sheets is, for example, several hundred sheets with one roll. Note that the cut 38 may not be provided.

The housing is a box-shaped plastic container as shown in the external perspective view of FIG. 1, with a lens 16 and a finder 56 provided on the front surface, a shutter 50 on the upper portion, and a thermal paper outlet on the side surface.
58 are provided. Further, an openable / closable lid is provided on the back side of the housing so that the thermal paper 14 can be replaced. The housing may be made of metal other than plastic. Inside the housing, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2 (when the upper cover is removed), the thermal paper 14 is detachably mounted in the form of a roll to prevent the thermal paper 14 from contacting the internal unit 72. The camera is conveyed through a roller 52 and a gutter-shaped guide plate 70 on the back side of the camera, is pressed by the platen roller 54 and the thermal head 12, and is discharged to the outside through the opening 58. The lens 16 is provided in the internal unit 72, the image sensor 10 is arranged on the optical axis, and the system controller 24, the image sensor driver 18, and the thermal head driver 20 are built in. The opening 58 may be provided with cutting teeth 60 for separating the thermal paper 14.

As for the power source, a battery may be built in the main body, or may be externally supplied by, for example, an AC adapter.

Next, the operation will be described mainly with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. Press the power switch (not shown) to turn on the power,
The system control unit 24 sets each block to a standby state. At this time, the head may be preheated by a known temperature control using, for example, a thermistor. When the shutter 50 of the device is pressed, the system control unit 24
Controls the image sensor driving unit 18, the thermal head driving unit 20, and the mechanism 22 (FIG. 4). The image sensor driving unit 18 drives the image sensor 10 to convert light from a subject into an electric signal, and transfers it to the thermal head 12 as it is. On the other hand, the mechanism 22 rotates the platen roller 54 at a fixed number of revolutions, conveys the thermal paper 14 from the starting end of one cut portion 38 to the next cut portion 38, and stops. The thermal head drive unit 20 is a part of the thermal paper 14
The thermal head 12 is caused to generate heat in accordance with the video signal until the ends of the notches 38 pass. When the thermal head 12 generates heat, an image of the subject is recorded in the cutout portion 38 of the thermal paper 14 as shown in FIG. 1, and the thermal paper 14 is discharged out of the opening 58.

Printing of the visible image on the thermal paper 14 is completed, and the thermal paper 14
Of the next unprinted notch 38 is the platen roller
When transported to the contact portion between 54 and the thermal head 12, the operation state returns to the standby state. Note that the electronic instant camera may be provided with a delay circuit or a timer so that power is cut off after a certain period of time to save power.

In the above-mentioned electronic instant camera, when the video is a moving image, one scanning line is printed from each of video signals of a plurality of frames (or a plurality of fields) by a thermal head, so that it is naturally determined as a pudding. The subject needs to be in a stationary state for about one second because the image flows and a normal print image cannot be obtained.

In addition, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 5, a memory 62 is provided between the imaging element 10 and the thermal head 12 in addition to the embodiment as shown in the block diagram of FIG. You may. The electronic instant camera of this embodiment captures an image of a subject by the image sensor 10 and converts the image into an electric signal.
And prints it on the thermal paper 14 with the thermal head 12. The video signals of a plurality of screens obtained by the image sensor 10 are stored in the memory 62 via the signal line 26 without being affected by the printing speed. The memory 62 is connected to the system control unit 24 by a control line 64, and reads out data of a plurality of screens stored in the memory 62 according to a control signal from the system control unit 24 one by one scanning line from each screen in accordance with the printing speed. Is transferred to the thermal head 12 through the signal line 66. A series of subsequent operations are the same as those of the above-described electronic instant camera. Further, at this time, as shown in the above-described embodiment (FIG. 4) in which the memory 62 is not used, all the data of a plurality of screens are read out line-sequentially from the memory 64 and transferred to the thermal head 12, and the head 12 The data of the scanning lines sequentially different from each other on the screen may be printed. In addition,
As the memory 62, a RAM capable of rewritably storing is advantageously applied. This RAM only needs to be stored until the image is printed on the thermal paper 14, so that a backup battery is not required. The memory 62 may be optionally provided so as to be detachable from the electronic instant camera.

By printing a single-color visible image signal obtained by imaging with an image sensor with a small number of pixels on thermal paper directly with a thermal head, a small-sized electronic instant camera with simple operation and good operability is realized. Is done. As a result, although the screen size is small, the image can be viewed on the spot where the image was taken. Therefore, it can be used, for example, for photographing a title image for air check and attaching it to a cassette, or for exchanging business cards, photographing the face of the other party on the spot, and attaching the obtained print to the business card. Further, the present invention can also be used when a small-screen size photograph is required immediately, such as a bus timetable or an exhibition. Also, by adding a memory, it is possible to print a momentary scene of a moving image.

Effect The electronic instant camera according to the present invention directly prints a video signal obtained by an image sensor having a relatively low number of pixels on a thermal paper as a black-and-white image. According to the present invention, a small and lightweight electronic camera with good operability and low power consumption is realized with a simple device, and an image can be immediately viewed with the naked eye without using a reproducing device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of an electronic instant camera according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the camera shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a thermal paper applied to the camera shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the camera shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the electronic instant camera according to the present invention. Explanation of reference numerals of main parts 10 image pickup device 12 thermal head 14 thermal paper 16 lens 18 image pickup device drive unit 20 thermal head drive unit 22 mechanism 24 system control unit 62 ……memory

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electronic instant camera for photographing a subject to obtain a video signal, wherein the camera receives a subject image corresponding to incident light from the subject and represents an image composed of a predetermined number of pixels. An imaging unit that converts the video signal into scanning signals and sequentially outputs the video signals to a plurality of screens in a scanning line sequence; and an image represented by the video signal output from the imaging unit as a visible image, and the thermal recording is performed on a scanning line basis in the imaging unit. A printing unit for printing on paper, wherein video signals of a plurality of screens output from the imaging unit are sequentially input to each of the scanning lines, and among the video signals in the scanning line direction of each screen, images of different scanning lines are respectively provided. A printing unit for printing a signal on the thermal recording paper for each screen; and one of the video signals of the plurality of screens imaged by the imaging unit. Control means for controlling the printing means so that an image on a screen is printed on a predetermined area of the thermal recording paper, wherein the printing means prints the image of each scanning line on the thermal recording paper. A plurality of heating elements for forming a plurality of recording pixels, and a transport unit for transporting the thermal recording paper and recording an image for each scanning line by the plurality of heating elements in a predetermined area of the thermal recording paper; The imaging unit is an imaging unit in which the number of pixels in the scanning line direction that constitutes the screen corresponds to the number of recording pixels, and the control unit is an image captured by the imaging unit. A signal is repeatedly read out, and a video signal of a plurality of screens is supplied to the printing unit, and the thermosensitive recording paper is transported in a certain direction corresponding to different scanning lines of a plurality of images. Electronic instant camera, wherein the controller controls the printing means so as to print on the recording paper the image information of the different scanning lines as one image. 2. The electronic instant camera according to claim 1, wherein said camera is a storage means for storing video signals of a plurality of screens converted by said imaging means,
Storage means for supplying the stored video signal to the printing means under the control of the control means, wherein the control means causes the storage means to respectively hold the video signals of the plurality of screens, Of the video signals of each screen held in each of the screens, the video signals of the different scanning lines at least for each screen are sequentially read out for each screen, and the images represented by the video signals of the different scanning lines for each screen are read for each of the screens. An electronic instant camera, wherein the storage means and the printing means are controlled so as to sequentially print on the thermal recording paper.