JPH09247506A - Video image pickup device and computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video image pickup device by which an upper and a lower part of a pattern are always correctly picked up by supporting a video camera turnable so as to pick up an image while selecting an upper or a lower side optionally and inverting an image of a object picked up by the video camera in its vertical direction or its horizontal direction as soon as the turning is made. SOLUTION: A camera stator section 15 of a video camera 12 and a camera turning section 16 are brought into contact on a slope having a tilt angle of 45 deg. with respect to a center shaft of the camera stator section 15 and an optical axis L of a lens group including an image pickup lens 17 and they are connected turnably. In the case of using the video camera 12 for a video telephone set or the like, when the photographer picks up its own image, the image is picked up while an image pickup lens 17 is directed forward to send a front view image, and in the case of picking up an image pickup object 21 such as book viewed by the photographer, the camera turning section is turned by 180 deg. and the image is picked up while the image pickup lens 17 is directed downward. Thus, in the case of picking up an image while the video camera 12 is directed optionally in a forward direction or downward, the upper and lower sides of a pattern are correctly picked up.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention takes a picture of a subject such as a book or an article placed on a desk, or a subject such as a user in a video conference or a videophone, and uses the image of the subject as a video signal. A video image capturing device that reverses the vertical and horizontal directions of a screen captured when the image capturing device is rotated from the front to the bottom or from the bottom to the front, and the screen in which the order of the video signals supplied from the video image capturing device is changed. The present invention relates to a computer device that reverses the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the display and displays on the display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as personal computer devices have become multimedia, various video cameras as image capturing devices for capturing an image of a subject and converting it into a video signal have been provided. A conventional video camera of this type of image capturing device is, for example, one shown in FIG.

The image capturing device shown in FIG. 15 captures an image with the video camera 1 and displays the image on the display 2 of the computer device, and the small video camera 1 is attached to the tip of the support arm 3. . The base end of the support arm 3 is fixed to the base 4, and the middle part of the support arm 3 can be freely bent, and the posture can be maintained at the time of bending. Therefore,
The video camera 1 is held by the support arm 3 at a desired height and in a hollow direction in a desired direction.
The video camera 1 is connected to the display 2 via a connection cord (not shown).
A keyboard 5 is also connected to.

Thus, for example, when the self-confidence is photographed with the lens of the video camera 1 pointing at the self in order to show the self-confidence image on the display 2, the self-confidence image is displayed on the display 2. become. In this case, even if the video camera 1 is placed in front of the display 2 to take a picture, the field of view is not hindered because the video camera 1 is small. Moreover, even if the focus of the eyes is moved from the lens to the display 2, the line of sight is directed straight forward, and thus the image is captured on the video camera 1.
Since it is in a state of facing the other party, it can be conveniently used for a videophone or a videoconference using a personal computer.

By the way, in the above image capturing device,
If you take a picture of yourself by placing the video camera 1 in the right or left position, or above or below, instead of in the center of the display 2,
Since the photographer looking at the display 2 is photographed diagonally from the front or from the side, the photographer feels as if he were using sideways or upper eyes. As a result, in a videophone or the like, the other party of the dialogue interacts with the person who is using the sideways eyes or the upper eye, and that person may feel "distorted eyes", which may cause discomfort to the other party. is there.

As another video camera of another conventional image capturing device, there is, for example, one shown in FIG. The image capturing device shown in FIG. 16 captures an image of a subject such as a book or a three-dimensional object with the video camera 6, and a base 7 on which the book 11 or the like is placed, and the base 7 is erected on the base 7. The support arm 8 and a pair of illumination lamps 9, 9 provided on both sides of the support arm 8 are provided. The video camera 6 is attached to the tip of the support arm 8 and
The support arm 8 is bendable at a middle portion in the height direction, and a tightening screw 10 is screwed into the bent portion. The video camera 6 attached to the tip of the support arm 8 can be held at an arbitrary height by loosening the tightening screw 10 and changing the inclination angle of the tip of the support arm 8.

Thus, according to this image capturing device, the book 11 or a three-dimensional object placed on the base 7 can be photographed by the video camera 6 from directly above. And
By turning on the illumination lamps 9, 9 arranged on the left and right of the support arm 8, it is possible to light up the book 11, the three-dimensional object, etc. placed on the base 7, so that the book 11 etc. can be made even more beautiful. You can shoot.

[0008]

However, in the conventional image capturing device as described above, the purpose of use of the video camera is different, and the device for taking a self-portrait and the device for taking a picture of a book or the like are different. As a result, it was dedicated. Therefore, when considering not only the use of videophones but also the shooting of books and the like, it is necessary to purchase both devices, which is expensive and uneconomical.・ There was a problem that a space for storage was required.

In this case, in the above-mentioned conventional device, one device may be used also as the other device, but in that case, the following problems occur. That is, for example, when the device shown in FIG. 15 is used as an image capturing device for book photography, the video camera 1 is used as shown in FIG.
When the image is taken by bending forward like the video camera 6 shown in FIG. 6, the upper side of the video camera 1 is located on the front side of the base 4, so that the image obtained by the video camera 1 is turned upside down. Therefore, when the book 11 is placed in front of the video camera 1 shown in FIG. 15, characters upside down are photographed and are displayed upside down on the display 2.

On the other hand, if the book 11 is placed upside down and placed in front of the video camera 1 shown in FIG. 15, the vertical relationship between the video camera 1 and the book 11 coincides with each other, so that the characters in the correct vertical relationship are displayed. Although the characters are photographed and the correct letters are displayed on the display 2, the book 11 is difficult to see because the book 11 is upside down.

Now, the video camera 1 shown in FIG.
Is rotated 180 degrees about the optical axis of the lens, and in that state, the middle part of the support arm 3 is bent 90 degrees and the video camera 1 is directed downward, so that the same state as the video camera 6 shown in FIG. 16 is obtained. However, in order to be able to rotate the video camera 1 by 180 degrees, not only the mechanism becomes complicated, but also the entire camera becomes large. Therefore, if the video camera 1 is 18
Even if it is configured to be rotatable by 0 degree, it is troublesome to rotate the video camera 1 by 180 degrees each time an image of the lower side is taken,
Moreover, the product actually provided had a structure in which it could only be rotated 90 degrees to the left and right. Further, in the device shown in FIG. 15, since there is no lighting equipment near the video camera 1, it is necessary to separately provide a lighting device when photographing the book 11 or the like with the video camera 1 facing downward. There were challenges.

When the support arm 8 of the apparatus shown in FIG. 16 is made upright and an attempt is made to photograph the front with the video camera 6, the upper and lower sides are turned upside down like the apparatus shown in FIG. Mechanism is required, the video camera 6 becomes complicated and large, and
There is a problem that the operation is troublesome because the operation for rotating it by 0 degree is required. Furthermore, since the entire apparatus including the video camera 6 is large, if it is placed in front of the display 2, it becomes an obstacle and the screen of the display 2 becomes difficult to see.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and the video camera is configured to be rotatable so that the front or the lower part can be arbitrarily selected and photographed. By reversing the vertical and horizontal directions of the image of the subject captured by the video camera, you can always capture the top and bottom of the screen correctly, even when taking a picture of yourself and the books downward. An object of the present invention is to provide a photographing device and a computer device equipped with the device.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and the like and to achieve the above-mentioned object, a video photographing apparatus of the present invention is capable of selectively photographing a front subject and a lower subject. A rotation support mechanism that supports the imaging device so that it can rotate at least 90 degrees, and an image reversal that reverses the vertical and horizontal directions of the screen shot when the imaging device is rotated 90 degrees from the front to the bottom or from the bottom to the front. It is characterized by having a mechanism and.

Further, in the computer apparatus of the present invention, the video image pickup apparatus is provided with a rotation support mechanism for rotatably supporting the image pickup apparatus by at least 90 degrees so that the front object and the lower object can be selectively photographed. , A personal computer has an imaging device 90 from front to bottom or from bottom to front.
It is characterized in that an image reversing mechanism for reversing the up and down and left and right directions of the screen imaged when it is rotated once is provided.

Since the video photographing apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, the video camera can be rotated 90 degrees to arbitrarily photograph the front or the lower side and photograph.
The image of the subject captured by the video camera is turned upside down at the same time as the camera rotates, so the screen image is always displayed regardless of whether you are shooting yourself in the front or shooting a book, etc. You can shoot with the correct top and bottom.

Further, since the computer apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to rotate the video camera 90 degrees to arbitrarily select the front or the lower side for shooting, and at the same time rotate the video camera. Since the image of the subject taken in upside down is turned upside down, the screen should always be placed correctly upside down regardless of whether you are shooting yourself in the front or shooting a book, etc. Can be displayed on.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of an image capturing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the video camera of the first embodiment is directed forward, and FIG. 2 shows the video camera downward. It is explanatory drawing of the state turned to. 3 to 5 show a second embodiment of the image capturing apparatus of the present invention.
Is an explanatory view showing a state in which the video camera of the second embodiment is directed forward, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the video camera is directed downward, and FIG. 5 is a circuit explanatory view of the second embodiment. Further, FIG.
8 shows the third embodiment of the image capturing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the video camera of the third embodiment is directed forward, and FIG. 7 shows the video camera downward. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the first embodiment of the attitude detecting means in the image capturing apparatus of the present invention. Furthermore, FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a video camera of a fourth embodiment of the video image pickup apparatus of the present invention.

10 to 13 show a first embodiment of the computer apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 10 shows an image of a subject on the display, with the video camera of the first embodiment facing downward. 11 is an explanatory view of a state in which the display accommodating the video camera is closed, FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of a front portion of the video camera, and FIG. 13 is a view of the first embodiment. It is a circuit explanatory view. Further, FIG. 14 shows a second embodiment of the computer apparatus of the present invention, and is a perspective view of a schematic configuration of the entire apparatus.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first embodiment of the image capturing apparatus of the present invention is a video camera 12 showing a specific example of the image capturing apparatus, and a support arm for supporting the video camera 12 at its tip. 13 and a base 14 that supports the base end of the support arm 13. The video camera 12 includes a camera fixing portion 15 fixed to the tip of the support arm 13,
The camera rotation part 16 is rotatably attached to the camera fixing part 15, and the camera mechanism part is attached to the camera rotation part 16.

The camera mechanism portion of the video camera 12 is arranged on the image pickup lens 17 protruding to the front of the camera rotating portion 16, a lens group built in the camera rotating portion 16 and the optical axes of these lenses. It is composed of a solid-state image sensor or the like, and a subject can be focused by turning the image pickup lens 17. Then, the image of the subject input from the image pickup lens 17 and passing through the lens group is converted into a predetermined electric signal by the solid-state image pickup device and output as a video signal.

The camera fixing portion 15 and the camera rotating portion 16 of the video camera 12 are in contact with each other by an inclined surface having an inclination angle of 45 degrees with respect to the optical axis L of the lens group including the image pickup lens 17, so that the camera is fixed. The portion 15 is formed with an inclined surface which is inclined downward at an angle of approximately 45 degrees, and the camera rotation portion 16 is formed with a rotational surface which is inclined upward at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. A bearing hole (or a rotating shaft may be provided) is provided at the center of the inclined surface of the camera fixing portion 15, and the camera rotating portion 1 is provided.
A rotation shaft (or a bearing hole may be provided) at the center of the rotation surface of 6.
Is provided. The rotation shaft (or the bearing hole) of the camera rotation portion 16 is replaced with the bearing hole (or the rotation shaft) of the camera fixing portion 15.
The camera is fixed to the camera by pivotally fitting it to the camera and engaging the retaining ring with the tip of the rotating shaft (or screwing a nut) to prevent the camera from slipping in the axial direction. Part 15
And the camera rotation unit 16 are rotatably connected.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, in the connected state in which the rotating surface of the camera rotating portion 16 is facing upward and the inclined surface of the camera fixing portion 15 is facing downward, the camera mechanism portion in the camera rotating portion 16 is shown. Is the optical axis L of the center line M of the camera fixing unit 15.
Is on the same line as. From this state, when the camera fixing portion 15 is fixed and the camera rotating portion 16 is rotated 180 degrees, the image pickup lens 17 of the camera rotating portion 16 is directed downward as shown in FIG. The optical axis L of the conductor 4 intersects the center line M of the camera fixing portion 15 at a right angle. Then, the upper surface of the camera rotating portion 16 which is the upper part of the camera mechanism portion moves to the camera fixing portion 15 side, and the lower surface of the camera rotating portion 16 is located on the side away from the camera fixing portion 15.

As the support arm 13, for example, a flexible tube can be applied, and the camera fixing portion 15 is integrally fixed to the attachment 13a attached to the tip of the support arm 13. A fixing tool having a collar portion 13b is attached to the base end of the support arm 13, and is fixed by a fixing means (other fixing means may be used) by fastening the fixing tool and a nut screwed to the fixing tool. The base end of the support arm 13 is supported by the base 14. The support arm 13 is hollow, and the lead wire led out from the camera mechanism portion of the video camera 12 is inserted into the hollow hole.

Further, the base 1 on which the support arm 13 is supported
4, a power switch 18 and a microphone 19 are attached. The connection cord 2 is connected to the lead wires of the power switch 18, the microphone 19 and the video camera 12.
0 is connected, and power is supplied to the camera mechanism unit, the microphone 19 and the like via the connection cord 20, and video signals, audio signals and the like are output.

The image capturing apparatus having such a structure is
For example, it can be used as follows. First,
When used as an image capturing device for a self-portrait for photographing oneself as a subject in a videophone or the like and displaying an image on the display of the other party, as shown in FIG.
The optical axis L of the camera rotating unit 16 and the center line M of the camera fixing unit 15 are aligned on a straight line, and the imaging lens 17 is arranged in front of the display of the user, facing forward. As a result, it is possible to transmit the image of the front of the user while viewing the image of the other party displayed on his / her own display, and also to see the image of the other party displayed on the display without disturbing the video camera 12.

Next, the camera fixing portion 1 of the video camera 12
The camera rotation unit 16 is rotated 180 degrees with the inclined surface of 5 and the rotation surface of the camera rotation unit 16 as boundaries. As a result, since the inclined surface and the rotating surface both form an inclination angle of 45 degrees, the camera mechanism portion such as the imaging lens 17 facing forward is directed downward, and the upper surface of the camera mechanism portion is fixed to the camera. The lower surface of the camera mechanism portion located on the side opposite to the portion 15 moves to the side away from the camera fixing portion 15. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface of the video camera 12 is placed on the imaging object 2 by placing the imaging object 21 which is a subject with its upper surface facing the base 14.
It is possible to make it coincide with the upper surface of No. 1 and to take an image without turning it upside down.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, in the second embodiment of the video photographing apparatus of the present invention, the video camera 22 is supported by the support arm 13 so as to be vertically rotatable, and the front surface of the video camera 22 is supported. It has a structure in which lighting equipment is installed. The video camera 22 includes a camera rotation part 23 having a built-in camera mechanism, a U-shaped metal fitting 24 attached to the tip of the support arm 13, a clevis part 23 a provided at the base end of the camera rotation part 23, and It is composed of a tightening bolt 25 penetrating the U-shaped metal fitting 24 sandwiching this, so that it is possible to arbitrarily select a state in which the camera rotating portion 23 is directed forward or downward with the tightening bolt 25 as a center. It can be rotated 90 degrees in the vertical direction. Then, the camera rotation unit 2
By tightening the tightening bolt 25 in a state in which 3 is directed forward or downward, the camera rotating portion 23 is tightened and fixed so as to maintain the posture thereof.

The clevis portion 23a of the camera rotating portion 23
An attitude detection switch 26 showing a specific example of attitude detection means for detecting a change in the attitude of the camera rotation unit 23 is attached to the. The detection portion of the attitude detection switch 26 projects on the upper surface of the camera rotation portion 23, and as shown in FIG.
3 is held horizontally, the detection unit is a U-shaped metal fitting 24.
The position detecting switch 26 is turned on by entering the inside of. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the camera rotation unit 23 is rotated downward by 90 degrees and the imaging lens 17 is changed downward with the camera fixing unit 24 fixed, the detection unit has a U-shaped metal fitting 24. Attitude detection switch 2
6 turns off.

Further, the image pickup lens 17 of the camera rotating unit 23.
An illumination light 27 showing a specific example of a lighting device for illuminating a subject is attached to the lower side. The lead wire of the illumination light 27 penetrates the hole of the support arm 13 into the base 28, and is connected to the connection cord 20 in the base 28 as in the camera mechanism. The base 28 is formed to be larger than the base 14 of the first embodiment in order to increase stability, and the power switch 18 and the microphone 19 are also attached thereto.

The electric circuit of the second embodiment of this video photographing apparatus is constructed as shown in FIG. Imaging lens 17
A solid-state image pickup device (CCD) 30 is arranged at one end of a lens group 29 having other lenses, and the solid-state image pickup device 30 has a video signal processing circuit 32 housed in a base 28 via an amplifier 31. It is connected to the. Further, a posture detection switch 26 is connected to the illumination light 27, and the earth side contact 26a of the posture detection switch 26 is connected.
Is connected to the control circuit 33 in the base 28. Further, the light side contact 2 of the attitude detection switch 26
The light contact 18a of the power switch 18 is connected to one end of the 6b, and the power circuit 34 is connected to the other end. The power circuit 34 is connected to the power contact 18b of the power switch 18.

The control circuit 33 is also connected to the video signal processing circuit 32 and the memory 35 connected thereto. The control circuit 33, the video signal processing circuit 32, and the memory 35 include a power supply circuit 34.
Is connected, and the audio signal processing circuit 36 is also connected to the power supply circuit 34. Further, an amplifier 37 is connected to the audio signal processing circuit 36, and a microphone 19 is connected to the amplifier 37. A power input is supplied to the power supply circuit 34, and the video signal processing circuit 32, the control circuit 33, the memory 35 and the audio signal processing circuit 36 are driven by the power output from the power supply circuit 34, and the power switch 18 and the attitude The illumination light 27 is turned on through the operation of the detection switch 26. Then, the video output is taken out from the video signal processing circuit 32, and the audio output is taken out from the audio signal processing circuit 36.

Thus, the image of the subject input from the imaging lens 17 and passing through the lens group 29 is converted into an electric signal by the solid-state imaging device (CCD) 30, and this video signal is passed through the amplifier 31 and the video signal processing circuit 32. Entered in.
This video signal is temporarily stored in the memory 35 from the video signal processing circuit 32. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, when the video camera 22 is in the horizontal state and the imaging lens 17 faces forward, the image information having the vertical relationship corresponding to the vertical direction of the subject is stored in the memory 35. It Then, by turning on the power switch 18 and closing the light contact 18a and the power contact 18b, the illumination light 2
It becomes possible to supply electric power to 7.

From this state, as shown in FIG. 4, when the camera turning portion 23 of the video camera 22 is turned downward by 90 degrees to switch to the downward direction, the image pickup object 17 with the image pickup lens 17 placed below is picked up. At the same time, the posture detection switch 26 comes off from the camera fixing portion 24 and turns on. As a result, the two contact points 26a, 2 of the attitude detection switch 26 are
6b are closed together, the lighting light 27 is turned on by turning on the light side contact 26b, and the ground side contact 2
The lighting information of the illumination light 27 is input to the control circuit 33 by turning on 6a.

As a result, the control circuit 33 controls the video signal processing circuit 32 and the memory 35,
The video signal stored in the memory 35 is cut out so that the top and bottom and the left and right of the screen are upside down, and the video signal is called from the memory 35. As a result, a video signal obtained by inverting the video captured by the video camera 22 is output as a video output of the video signal processing circuit 32. Therefore, by displaying an image on the display based on this video output, a video having a vertical relationship corresponding to the top and bottom of the imaging target 21 is displayed on the screen.

In this case, since the light of the illumination light 27 illuminates the image pickup object 21 from the same direction as the optical axis L of the camera mechanism of the video camera 22, the image pickup object 21 can be photographed with vivid colors. , You can reduce color noise and take beautiful pictures. This illumination light 27
The illumination effect can be obtained with a slight illumination of a few watts, and therefore, by combining the illumination light 27 with the video camera 22, a clearer and more vivid image can be realized.

In the second embodiment, the illumination light 27 is turned off when the self-portrait is taken, so that the illumination light 27 is turned off when the video camera 22 is horizontal. Alternatively, the illumination light 27 may be turned on by operating the power switch 18 as necessary.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, in the third embodiment of the image capturing apparatus of the present invention, the video camera 40 is integrally provided with the microphone 41 and the gravity detector 42, and the illumination light 43 is provided with the illumination light 43. The structure is provided separately from 40 and can be illuminated from a distance. The microphone 41 is attached to the upper surface of the video camera 40 with the directivity direction facing forward. Also, the gravity detector 4
Reference numeral 2 shows a second embodiment of the attitude detecting means, which has a configuration as shown in FIG.

The gravity detector 42 has a weight 44 and a changeover switch 45, the weight 44 is fixed to one end of a lever 46, and the other end of the lever 46 is the changeover switch 4.
5 is attached to the rotary shaft 47. Changeover switch 4
The rotary shaft 47 of No. 5 is provided so as to project to the side of the video camera 40, and the lever 46 extends in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the rotary shaft 47. Weight 44
Is positioned below where gravity always acts due to its own weight, and when the attitude of the video camera 40 changes, it rotates about the rotation shaft 47 so as to move further downward.

The rotary shaft 47 of the changeover switch 45 is 90
The changeover switch 45 is turned off when the weight 44 moves to one rotation end, that is, when the video camera 40 is in a horizontal state.
Then, when the weight 44 moves to the other end, that is, when the video camera 40 is in the downward state, the changeover switch 45 is turned on. The detection signal of the changeover switch 45 is supplied to the video signal processing circuit 32 by a lead wire that penetrates through the cavity of the support arm 48 and reaches the inside of the base 50.

The illumination light 43 is attached to the lower part of the video camera 40 via two links 50a and 50b which are rotatably connected to each other. That is, the illumination light 43 is rotatably supported by the tip of one of the links 50a, and the base end of the other link 50b is rotatably supported by the lower surface of the video camera 40. Therefore, the illumination light 43 normally includes the two links 50 in the folded state.
a and 50b are arranged below the video camera 40. By extending both links 50a and 50b and moving the illumination light 43 to the side,
The illumination light can be applied to the subject from the side away from zero.

The support arm 48 is composed of a support member 48a for rotatably supporting the video camera 40, and two arm members 48b, 48c made of square pipe members.
Between the support member 48a and the arm member 48b, between the two arm members 48b and 48c, and between the arm member 48c and the base 4.
Joint portions 51a, 51 capable of fixedly holding a mating member at an arbitrary position between the arm receiving portion 49a and the arm receiving portion 49a.
They are rotatably connected by b and 51c. The video camera 40 has a support member 4 for supporting it.
A bracket 40a for fixing to the 8a is provided, and the video camera 40 is attached to the tip of the support arm 48 by tightening a fixing screw 52 penetrating the bracket 40a.

The base 49 is provided with the power switch 18 and other operation switches 59, and
It is rotatably supported on the upper surface of the clamp member 53 via a support shaft 54. The clamp member 53 is for fixing the base 49 to an end of a desk 55, a table, or the like, and includes a U-shaped clamp body 56 and one of two opposing pieces of the clamp body 56. By having the tightening screw 57 provided so as to penetrate therethrough and the handle 58 provided at the base end of the tightening screw 57, by sandwiching the desk 55 or the like with the other piece facing and the tightening screw 57. The image capturing device can be attached to a desired desk, table, or the like.
The other side of the clamp member 53 includes the support shaft 54 described above.
Is erected so as to project outward, and the support shaft 5
4 is inserted in the base 49. The configuration of the electric circuit of the video image pickup apparatus of the third embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 5 of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Thus, according to this third embodiment, FIG.
As shown in, when the video camera 40 is in the horizontal state and the imaging lens 17 faces forward, the image information of the subject is stored in the memory 35 while maintaining the vertical relationship corresponding to the top and bottom of the subject. . Then, sound can be recorded by the microphone 41 at the same position as the video camera 40, converted into an electric signal, and stored in the memory 35 as sound information. Furthermore, by using the illumination light 43, it is possible to perform photography by lighting up from the front.

At this time, in the gravity detector 42, as shown in FIG. 8, since the weight 44 is located on the off side by its own weight, the changeover switch 45 is off. Therefore, no signal is supplied from the changeover switch 45 to the control circuit 33, so that the control circuit 33 does not cut the video signal.

From this state, as shown in FIG. 7, at the joint portion 51a at the tip of the support arm 48, the support member 48a is formed.
When the front side is rotated downward by 90 degrees and the video camera 40 is switched downward, the imaging lens 17 faces the imaging target object 38 placed below, and the weight 44 of the gravity detector 42 causes the weight 44 of the gravity detector 42 side. Therefore, the rotation shaft 47 is rotated 90 degrees and the changeover switch 45 is turned on. As a result, the electric circuit accommodated in the base 49 functions to reverse the vertical and horizontal directions of the video image captured by the video camera 40, and the video signal thus inverted is output. Therefore, by displaying an image on the display based on this video output, a video having a vertical relationship corresponding to the top and bottom of the imaging target 38 is displayed on the screen.

Further, the illumination light 43 illuminates from an oblique position with respect to the optical axis L of the image pickup lens 17 by extending the two links 50a and 50b and setting them at a position apart from the video camera 40. Therefore, it is possible to prevent reflected light from being input from the imaging lens 17,
It enables you to take beautiful pictures without receiving direct reflected light. Moreover, since the illumination light 43 is configured separately from the video camera 40, and the two are separated from each other without contacting each other, the influence of the heat of the illumination light 43 on the video camera 40 can be reduced. Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, a relatively bright illumination light (for example, about several watts) can be used.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the fourth embodiment of the video photographing apparatus of the present invention, when the video camera 60 is directed downward, the lens group 29 including the imaging lens 17 is automatically switched to the close-up lens. It is configured as follows. The video camera 60 includes a lens group 29, a solid-state image sensor 30, a close-up lens 61, a lens moving mechanism 62, a focus adjustment button 63, a gravity detector 42 (posture detecting means), and the like. Is housed in the camera case 64, and the operation portion of the focus adjustment button 63 is exposed to the outside. A lens window 64a is opened in front of the lens group 29 of the camera case 64, and a space for the close-up lens 61 is set between the lens window 64a and the imaging lens 17, and this space is set. A close-up lens 61 is arranged side by side with the lens group 29 so that it can be moved in and out.

Further, a lens moving mechanism 62 is provided for sliding the close-up lens 61. The lens moving mechanism 62 includes a motor 65 and the motor 65.
Drive gear 66 fixed to the rotary shaft of the
The driven gear 67 meshed with the gear 6, and the screw shaft 68 having the driven gear 67 fixed at one end are provided. The screw shaft 68 of the lens moving mechanism 62 is screwed through the bracket 69a of the lens frame 69 that holds the close-up lens 61, and penetrates the bracket 69a.

Thus, the rotational force of the rotating shaft of the motor 65 is transmitted from the driving gear 66 to the screw shaft 68 via the driven gear 67, and the screw shaft 68 is pulled by one of the rotations of the screw shaft 68. The lens frame 69 moves to the front of the optical path of the lens group 29, and the optical axis of the close-up lens 61 is moved to the lens group 29.
The movement is stopped when it coincides with the optical axis L of. As a result, a close-up lens including the lens group 29 and the close-up lens 61 is configured. Focusing of the close-up lens can be performed by operating the focus adjustment button 63. By swinging the focus adjustment button 63 and driving a motor for focusing the lens group 29, the focus adjusting button 63 is moved in the swinging direction. The lens can be moved accordingly to perform delicate focusing.

On the other hand, by rotating the screw shaft 68 of the lens moving mechanism 62 to the other direction by reversing the rotation direction of the motor 65, the lens frame 69 is pushed by the screw shaft 68 to move laterally, and the lens group Stop at a position completely out of front of the optical path of 29. The operation of the lens moving mechanism 62 as described above is performed by the gravity detector 42 that detects the attitude of the video camera 60.
It is performed based on the detection signal from. That is, the gravity detector 42 has the above-described configuration, and when the video camera is turned downward, the weight 44 moves to the front side of the camera case 64 to turn on the changeover switch 45, and the detection signal is detected. Is output to. As a result, the control device outputs a drive signal to the motor 65 to drive the motor 65 as described above to automatically set the close-up lens 61 in front of the optical path of the lens group 29 or to completely eject it from the optical path. It is configured to be able to.

According to this embodiment, the normal photographing lens can be switched to the close-up lens simply by changing the video camera 60 from the horizontal state to the downward state, and similarly, the normal state can be changed from the downward state to the horizontal state. You can switch from a close-up lens to a normal shooting lens. Moreover, since the focusing is automatically performed at the same time when the lenses are switched, it is not necessary for the user to perform the troublesome focusing each time the lenses are switched, and thus this type of video camera 60 can be conveniently used. Furthermore, by incorporating an autofocus mechanism for the operation of the lens group 29, the operability can be further improved.

Further, FIGS. 10 to 13 show a fourth embodiment of a video image pickup apparatus of the present invention and a first embodiment of a computer apparatus equipped with the video image pickup apparatus. Reference numeral 70 shown in FIG. 10 is a portable personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “personal computer”) showing a specific example of a computer device.
The personal computer 70 comprises a personal computer main body 71 and a personal computer lid 72 rotatably connected to the personal computer main body 71 by a hinge means. A keyboard 73 is attached to a personal computer body 71 of the personal computer 70, and a display 74 is attached to a personal computer lid 72. The display 74 side of the personal computer lid 72 is superposed on the keyboard 73. The personal computer 70 is compactly accommodated by folding the personal computer 70 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 13, a personal computer main body 71 of the personal computer 70 has a CPU (central processing unit: this has a control unit, an arithmetic unit, a main storage unit, etc.) 75, and an auxiliary storage. Memory 7 as a device
6 and an input / output device and other devices are built-in, and in addition to these, a video capture control board (hereinafter, referred to as "control board") for supplying a video signal obtained by the video camera 80 to the CPU 75 and the like.
That. ) 77 is provided. The control board 77 has an A / D converter 78, an interface board 79, etc., and the interface board 79 is connected to the CPU 75 and the memory 76 by a bus line 70a.

The CPU 75 has an interface board 79.
When the signal is input from the input terminal, the video signal stored in the memory 76 is processed so that the image is turned upside down and left and right, and the processed signal is supplied to the display 74 to display the image. As a result, an image obtained by vertically and horizontally reversing the image captured by the video camera 80 is displayed on the display 74. The control board 77 having such a function is used by inserting it into the expansion connector of the personal computer 70, whereby the personal computer 70 and the video camera 80 can be electrically connected.

As shown in FIG. 10, the video camera 80 is housed in a cylindrical camera case 81, and the lens group 29 is installed at the center of the camera case 81. The imaging lens 17 of the lens group 29 projects outward from the tip of the camera case 81, and a donut-shaped illumination light 82 is embedded so as to surround the lens group 29. As shown in FIG.
In the CCD 30 attached to the base end of the lens group 29,
The video signal processing circuit 32 is connected to the video signal processing circuit 32 via the amplifier 31 in the camera case 81, and the video signal processing circuit 32 is connected to the interface board 79 via the A / D converter 78 of the control board 77 in the personal computer main body 71. It is connected to the.

Furthermore, the changeover switch 45 of the gravity detector 42 is connected to the illumination light 82, and the earth side contact 45a of this changeover switch 45 is connected to the interface board 79 in the personal computer main body 71. The light side contact 45b of the changeover switch 45 is connected to the power supply circuit 34 in the camera case 81, and the power supply circuit 34 is connected to the power supply output terminal of the personal computer body 71. Then, the camera case 81
A gravity detector 42 is attached to the outside of the.

Video camera 80 having such a configuration
The flexible tube 13 is attached to the tip of the flexible tube 13, and the rotating tool 83 is attached to the proximal end of the flexible tube 13.
The rotating tool 83 is rotatably fixed to a base 84, and the base 84 is fixed to the personal computer lid 72. The base 84 is made of a mounting member having a U-shaped cross section, and is fitted to the edge of the personal computer cover 72 and is detachably mounted. The base 84 is provided with a pipe stopper 85 for engagingly holding the flexible pipe 13, and by fitting the pipe stopper 85 to the middle portion of the flexible pipe 13 as shown in FIG. The video camera 80 can be integrally housed in the personal computer 70 with good shape.

Thus, when the image pickup lens 17 of the video camera 80 is pointed at the image pickup object 86 which is a subject, the image is taken into the CCD through the lens group 29, converted into a predetermined electric signal here, and is amplified. It is supplied to the video signal processing circuit 32 via 31. The video signal output from the video signal processing circuit 32 is supplied to the control board 77, converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 78, and then connected to the bus line 70a via the interface board 79. It is appropriately supplied to the CPU 75 and the memory 76 of 70.

In this case, in the conventional video camera, when the vertical direction of the video camera is upside down with respect to the vertical direction of the object to be imaged 86, the reversed image is captured and the reversed image is inverted. Will be displayed on the display 74 in this state. On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, when the image pickup lens 17 of the video camera 80 is directed downward, the changeover switch 45 is turned on by the action of the gravity detector 42, so that signal is transmitted via the interface board 79. Is input to the CPU 75. As a result, the CPU 75 processes the video signal stored in the memory 76 so that the vertical and horizontal directions of the video are reversed, and outputs the processed video signal to the display 74, as shown in FIG. The image that has been reversed and the upper and lower sides are correct is displayed on the display 74.

As described above, in the case of this embodiment, the image is reversed by using the personal computer 70.
The configuration can be much simpler than that of the electric circuit configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 shows a second embodiment of the computer device of the present invention. A personal computer 90 as this computer device is called a desktop personal computer, and is composed of a personal computer body 91, a display 92, a keyboard 93, a mouse 94, and the like. A base 96 is provided on the side surface of the exterior body 95 of the display 92.
Are integrally fixed to the base 96.
Are rotatably supported. The rotating tool 83 is the flexible tube 1.
The video camera 80 having the above-described structure is attached to the tip end of the video camera 3. Other configurations are the same as those in the above embodiment.

Thus, according to the second embodiment of the computer device, since the video camera 80 is fixed to the exterior body 95 of the display 92 and is integrated with the personal computer 90, a book or the like placed in front of the display 92 can be used. Images can be captured smoothly. Moreover, it can be used as an electronic device for a videophone or a video conference using a personal computer, and it can be realized as a device therefor with a relatively simple configuration. Especially the base 96
Is attached to the side surface of the display 92, so that the line of sight is exactly at the camera position when taking a self-portrait, and the support arm 13 of the video camera 80 does not cross the screen of the display 92 when taking a book or the like. Can be extremely good.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, an example in which a video camera is used as an image pickup device has been described, but other similar devices are also applicable. Of course, it can be applied. Thus, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit thereof.

[0065]

As described above, according to the video photographing apparatus of the present invention, the video camera is made rotatable so that the front or the lower side can be arbitrarily selected and photographed, and at the same time, the video camera is rotated. Since the image of the subject taken in is upside down, it is possible to take a picture of a book or the like downward, even when taking a picture of yourself.
It is possible to provide an effect that it is possible to provide a video image capturing device that can always capture images with the top and bottom of the screen correct.

According to the computer device of the present invention, the video camera can be rotated 90 degrees to arbitrarily select the front or the lower part for photographing, and at the same time as the rotation, the image of the object photographed by the video camera can be obtained. Since it is turned upside down, the effect that the screen can always be displayed correctly up and down regardless of whether you are shooting yourself forward or shooting a book downward can get.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a video camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention with a video camera facing forward.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a video camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention with a video camera facing downward.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a video camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention with a video camera facing forward.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a second embodiment of the image capturing apparatus of the present invention with the video camera facing downward.

FIG. 5 is a circuit explanatory diagram of a second embodiment of the image capturing device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a third embodiment of the video image capturing apparatus of the present invention with a video camera facing forward.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a third embodiment of the video image capturing apparatus of the present invention with the video camera facing downward.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the attitude detecting means of the image capturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a video camera of a fourth embodiment of an image capturing device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows the first embodiment of the computer device of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which an image of a subject captured with a video camera facing downward is displayed on the display.

FIG. 11 shows the first embodiment of the computer apparatus of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a display accommodating a video camera is closed.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing, in an enlarged manner, a front portion of a video camera according to the first embodiment of the computer device of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram of the first embodiment of the computer device of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the computer apparatus of the present invention and is a schematic configuration of the entire apparatus.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional image capturing device.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of another example of a conventional image capturing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

12, 22, 40, 60, 80 Video camera (imaging device), 13, 48 Support arm, 14, 28, 49,
84,96 base, 15,24 camera fixing part, 1
6, 23 camera rotation unit, 21, 38, 86 image pickup object, 26 posture detection switch (posture detection means), 2
7,43,82 Lighting for lighting (luminaire), 30
Solid-state imaging device, 32 video signal processing circuit, 33 control circuit, 42 gravity detector (posture detecting means), 44 weight, 45 changeover switch, 61
Close-up lens, 62 lens moving mechanism, 70, 9
0 personal computer (computer device), 7
4,92 display, 77 video capture control board, L optical axis

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An image capturing apparatus comprising: an image capturing apparatus that converts an image of a subject passing through a lens into a video signal; a support arm that supports the image capturing apparatus in a hollow manner; and a base that supports the support arm. A rotation support mechanism that supports at least 90 degrees of rotation of the image pickup apparatus so that a front object and a lower object can be selectively photographed, and the image pickup apparatus rotates 90 degrees from the front to the bottom or from the bottom to the front. An image reversing mechanism for reversing the vertical and horizontal directions of the screen shot when the image capturing device is provided. 2. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation support mechanism and the image reversing mechanism are provided at a tip of the support arm and face downward with respect to an optical axis of the lens of the image capturing apparatus. A camera fixing portion having an inclined surface inclined at about 45 degrees, and a camera rotating portion having the imaging device and having a rotating surface inclined upward at about 45 degrees with respect to the optical axis of the lens are provided. An image capturing apparatus, wherein the rotating surface is brought into contact with the inclined surface, and the camera fixing portion and the camera rotating portion are connected so as to be rotatable around the optical axis. 3. The video image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup device has a posture detection means for detecting whether the image pickup device is facing forward or downward, and the image pickup is performed based on a detection result of the posture detection means. An image capturing apparatus, wherein the image signals output from the apparatus are output in a different order, and the image of the subject captured by the image capturing apparatus can be displayed on the screen by reversing the vertical and horizontal directions. 4. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the image capturing apparatus includes a lighting fixture for illuminating a subject. 5. The video image pickup device according to claim 4, wherein the lighting fixture is turned on when the image pickup device is oriented downward based on a detection result of the posture detection means. . 6. The video image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup device has a close-up lens in addition to the lens, and the image pickup device faces downward. In this case, the image capturing apparatus is characterized in that the lens is switched to the close-up lens. 7. The image capturing device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6, wherein the image capturing device is a video camera. 8. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the attitude detecting unit includes a gravity detector that detects an acting direction of gravity, and whether the attitude of the image capturing apparatus is forward or downward by the gravity detector. An image capturing device characterized by detecting 9. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the base is configured to be attachable to and detachable from a personal computer. 10. An image pickup device in which an image pickup device for converting an image of a subject that has passed through a lens into a video signal is hollowly supported by a support arm supported by a base, and the above-mentioned image pickup device via the base. In a computer device equipped with a video image capturing device and a personal computer for displaying an image of the subject on a screen based on the video signal, the video image capturing device selectively selects a front subject and a lower subject. Is provided with a rotation support mechanism that supports the image pickup apparatus so that the image pickup apparatus can rotate at least 90 degrees, and the personal computer is provided with a rotation support mechanism that rotates 90 degrees from the front to the bottom or from the bottom to the front. A computer device provided with an image reversing mechanism for reversing the vertical and horizontal directions of a captured screen. 11. The computer device according to claim 10, wherein the video image capturing device has attitude detecting means for detecting whether the image capturing device is facing forward or downward, and the personal computer is supplied from the image capturing device. The video signal output from the image pickup device can be output in a different order based on the video signal and the detection signal of the posture detection means, and the image of the photographed subject can be displayed on the screen by reversing the vertical and horizontal directions. A computer device characterized by the above.