JPH10153730A - Lens barrel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a lens barrel unnecessitating switching operation between manual and automatic operation and capable of being rapidly conditioned to a subject. SOLUTION: An intermediate ring 25 holding a ball 28 is arranged between a focusing ring 19 manually operated and a motor-driven ring 24 driven by a motor 20, and the rotation of the rings 19 and 24 is transmitted to the ring 25 through the ball 28. A focusing lens 17 is moved in an optical axis direction by the ring 25 through an extended part 36. Thus, the movement of the lens 17 in accordance with the manipulated variable of the manual and the automatic operation is attained without performing the switching operation. An index 35 for focusing operation is put on the outer surface of the ring 25, and a pressing member 30 capable of sliding in the optical axis direction is integrally provided in the ring 19 and is energized to the ball 28 by a spring 34.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lens barrel capable of performing both a manual focusing operation and an automatic focusing operation in a lens portion of a camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a lens barrel used for a camera, a television camera, or the like, a focus lens for focusing and a zoom lens for zooming are provided. And automatic (electric) switching.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a manual operation and an electric (automatic) operation.
1 shows a configuration of a conventional camera lens barrel that can be switched to a focusing lens 2 inside a lens barrel 1 shown in FIG.
Is held by the holding frame 3. A manual focus (operation) ring 4 and a connection ring 5 are provided outside the lens barrel 1, and a clutch portion 6 formed by coupling teeth 4 </ b> A and 5 </ b> A is formed at a contact portion between the two members.

Although not shown, an extension 3A of the holding frame 3 is engaged with the linear groove of the connecting ring 5 by a key structure so as to be movable back and forth. The body 1 is connected to the torso 1 by a helicoid H, and the focus lens 2 moves back and forth as the connection ring 5 rotates. External teeth 7 are formed on the outer periphery of the connection ring 5 and an index (distance scale) 8 of a focus operation is provided.

[0005] Further, a motor 9 and a gear 10 for electric driving are arranged, and a switching gear 11 which can mesh with the gear 10 and meshes with the external teeth 7 of the connecting ring 5 is provided. The switching gear 11 has a disk-shaped engaging member 12 that engages with the focus ring 4, and slides along the axis 13 by operating the focus ring 4 in the optical axis direction. .

According to the above configuration, at the time of manual operation, as shown in FIG. 5, the focus ring 4 is moved rearward (to the right in the figure) to release the meshing between the switching gear 11 and the gear 10, and The part 6 is engaged. After that, when the focus ring 4 is rotated, the connection ring 5
In addition, the focus lens 2 can be moved in the optical axis direction through the helicoid coupling of the holding frame 3, thereby enabling focusing.

On the other hand, when auto focus is set, FIG.
As shown in (2), the focus ring 4 is moved forward, the switching gear 11 is engaged with the gear 10, and the engagement of the clutch portions 6 (4A, 5A) is released. Then, the rotation of the motor 9 is transmitted to the connection ring 5 by the meshing of the gear 10 and the switching gear 11, and the autofocus that moves the focus lens 2 in the optical axis direction through the connection of the connection ring 5 and the extension 3 </ b> A. Operation becomes possible.

[0008]

By the way, in the conventional camera lens driving device capable of performing both the manual operation and the automatic operation as described above, the switching gear 11 is connected to the focus ring 4.
However, if the switching operation is not required, a convenient camera device with simplified operation can be provided. In addition, since the above-described switching operation is required, it may not be possible to quickly adjust conditions such as focusing on a subject, and in this case, there is a disadvantage that a photo opportunity is missed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lens barrel which does not require a manual or automatic switching operation, and which can quickly adjust conditions for a subject. Is to do.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lens barrel for holding a movable lens so as to be movable in an optical axis direction. A manually operated ring rotatably disposed on the outer peripheral portion for moving the lens in the optical axis direction by manual operation, and a gear rotatably disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the lens barrel and connected to the electric motor And a rolling member (sphere) disposed in contact with both the electric ring-side member and the manually operated ring-side member. The rolling of the rolling member And an intermediate ring that is driven to rotate, wherein the intermediate ring is rotated by the manual operation ring or the electric motor to move the lens in the optical axis direction. The invention according to a second aspect is characterized in that an index of an operation state of the lens is provided on an outer surface of the intermediate ring. The invention according to a third aspect is characterized in that the manually operated ring is provided with a holding member that is slidable only in the optical axis direction and rotates integrally.
The pressing member is biased by a spring member to the rolling member of the intermediate ring.

According to the above configuration, for example, in a focus operation, a manual operation and an automatic operation can be performed without using a switching gear or the like. That is, when the manual operation ring is rotated, the electric ring-side member serves as a load, the electric ring is fixed, and the intermediate ring is driven to rotate. In this case, the intermediate ring is driven by the rotation of the rolling member by the manually operated ring, so that the intermediate ring rotates by half the amount of the manually operated ring. It is operated in the direction.

On the other hand, when the electric motor is driven, the manual operation ring side member serves as a load, and the operation ring is fixed, and the intermediate ring is rotationally driven via the electric ring and the rolling member. As a result, the lens is moved in the optical axis direction in the same manner as described above. In this way, by interposing the rotating intermediate ring using the rolling member, the operation amount is reduced to half, but the manual and automatic switching operation can be omitted.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the pressing member is urged by the spring member to the rolling member of the intermediate ring, the contact between the rolling member and each member becomes good, and There is an advantage that the rotation of the member is reliably transmitted to each member.

[0014]

1 to 4 show the structure of a lens barrel according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a part of the upper part of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a lens group for focusing and zooming is arranged in a lens barrel 16 to which the hood 15 is attached.
In particular, the focus lens 17 is movably mounted together with the holding frame 18 for focusing. A manually operated focus ring 19 is rotatably mounted on the outer periphery of the lens barrel 16. A motor 20 for autofocusing is provided at a distance from the lens barrel 16 by supporting means (not shown), and a gear train including gears 21 and 22 is attached to the motor 20.

An electric ring 24 driven by the motor 20 and an electric ring 24
And an intermediate ring 25 arranged in the middle of the focus ring 19 is rotatably arranged. That is, as shown in detail in FIG.
Are formed, and the electric ring 24 is driven by the motor 20 by the meshing of the external teeth 26 and the gear 22.
A plurality of second balls (rolling members) 27 are arranged in the circumferential direction between the electric ring 24 and the wall body 16A of the lens barrel 16, and the second electric ball 24 is interposed through the balls 27. Will rotate.

In the intermediate ring 25, a plurality of first balls 28 are rotatably and fixedly disposed inside the intermediate ring 25, and the first balls 28 are provided on the side surfaces of the electric ring 24. It is arranged to be in contact. Then, the first ball 28 also comes into contact with the side surface of the pressing member 30 on the focus ring 19 side.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the peripheral member of the intermediate ring 25 and the outer peripheral surface thereof. FIG. 4 is a view of the coupling state of the focus ring 19 and the pressing member 30 viewed from the optical axis direction. It is shown. As shown in FIG. 4, the convex portion 31 is formed on the focus ring 19 side, and the pressing member 30 is formed.
A concave portion 32 is formed on the side, and by these fittings, the pressing member 30 can slide in the optical axis direction while rotating integrally with the focus ring 19.

Then, between the pressing member 30 and the wall 16B of the lens barrel 16, as shown in FIG.
The pressing member 30 is pressed toward the first ball 28 by the spring 34. Thus, each of the first ball 28 and the second ball 27 satisfactorily comes into contact with each of the members arranged on the left and right sides with a constant pressing force.

That is, in order to make the focus ring 19 freely rotatable, a predetermined gap (margin) is provided between the focus ring 19 and the lens barrel 16.
When the operator is integrated with the focus ring 19,
Is moved forward (to the left in the figure), the first ball 28
If the urging force of the spring 34 is not transmitted to the first ball 28 and the ball 34 is moved rearward, a problem occurs that an excessive force is applied to the first ball 28. Therefore, in order to solve such inconvenience, in the embodiment, a separate pressing member 30 is provided so that the spring force applied to the first ball 28 does not change due to the force applied by the operator.

Further, a linear groove is formed on the lower side of the intermediate ring 25, and the linear lens is formed in the linear groove.
7 are connected so that the extending portion 36 of the holding frame 18 moves only in the front-back direction (a well-known key structure). The holding frame 18 and the lens barrel 16 are connected by a helicoid H, and the rotation of the intermediate ring 25 causes the focus lens 17 to rotate.
Move linearly in the optical axis direction. And
In the embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate ring 25 is
As shown in (B), an index (distance scale) 35 indicating the focus operation state is attached.

The embodiment has the above configuration, and its operation will be described below. Manual focus ring 1 in FIG.
When the rotating member 9 is rotated, the electric ring 24 is fixed, and the rotation of the first ball 28 causes the intermediate ring 25 to rotate in the circumferential direction of the lens barrel 16. That is, the electric ring 24 is in a fixed state with its weight and the state of coupling (friction) with each member being a large load. Since the intermediate ring 25 in this case moves integrally with the ball 28, the intermediate ring 25 rotates in the same direction by half the rotation amount (angle) of the focus ring 19.

When the intermediate ring 25 rotates in this manner, the rotation is converted into a linear motion by the connection between the intermediate ring 25 and the extending portion 36 and the connection between the lens barrel 16 and the helicoid H between the lens barrel 16 and the holding frame 18. Then, the focus lens 17 is moved by a predetermined amount in the direction of the optical axis, thereby enabling focusing.

On the other hand, during the autofocus operation, the motor 20 is driven to rotate, and the gear 21 and the gear 2 are rotated.
The electric ring 24 is rotated by the connection between the outer ring 26 and the outer teeth 26. In this case, the focus ring 19 and the pressing member 30 are fixed, and the rotation of the first ball 28 causes the intermediate ring 25 to rotate in the circumferential direction. That is, the focus ring 19 and the pressing member 30 similarly have a large load, so that the focus ring 19 is fixed. At this time, the second ball 27 also rotates at the same time, and the presence of the second ball 27 causes the intermediate ring 25 to rotate smoothly.

Also in this case, the intermediate ring 25
The electric ring 24 is rotated in the same direction by half of the rotation amount (angle), and the rotation of the intermediate ring 25 moves the focus lens 17 by a predetermined amount in the optical axis direction. It becomes possible.

In such a focus operation, since the focus index 35 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate ring 25, the state of the focus operation can be confirmed by the index 35.

In the above operation, the first ball 28 firmly contacts the holding member 30 and the electric ring 24 due to the presence of the spring 34 and the holding member 30, so that the rotation from the focus ring 19 to the intermediate ring 25 is performed. The transmission of the amount and the transmission of the rotation amount from the electric ring 24 to the intermediate ring 25 can be reliably performed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the drive structure of the focus lens 17 has been described. However, the above-described structure of the present invention can be similarly applied to a zoom lens or the like.

[0028]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, between the manually operated ring and the electric ring,
Since the intermediate ring holding the rolling member was arranged, the rotation of the manually operated ring and the electric ring was transmitted to the intermediate ring via the rolling member, and the intermediate ring moved the focus lens, for example. There is an advantage that the switching operation between manual and automatic is not required, and the condition for the subject can be quickly adjusted.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the index of the operating state is given to the intermediate ring, the operating state of the lens can be confirmed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a holding member slidable only in the optical axis direction is provided integrally with the manual operation ring, and this holding member is connected to the rolling member of the intermediate ring by a spring member. Since the urging is performed, the rotation amounts of the manually operated ring and the electric ring can be reliably transmitted to the intermediate ring, and the lens driving operation can be performed satisfactorily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a configuration of a lens barrel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a part of the upper side of FIG.

3A and 3B show peripheral members of the intermediate ring of FIG. 2 and FIG.
Is a cross-sectional view, and FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a combined state of a focus ring and a holding member in FIG. 1 from an optical axis direction.

FIG. 5 is an overall view showing a configuration of a conventional camera lens driving device (lens unit).

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a part of the upper side of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,16 ... lens barrel, 2,17 ... focus lens, 4,19 ... focus ring, 9,20 ... motor, 24 ... electric ring, 25 ... intermediate ring, 26 ... external teeth, 28 ... first ball, 30 ... holding member, 34 ... spring, 35 ... index.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A lens barrel for holding a movable lens so as to be movable in an optical axis direction, and a manual for rotatably disposed on an outer peripheral portion of the lens barrel for manually moving the lens in the optical axis direction. An operation ring, an electric ring which is rotatably arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the lens barrel and has external teeth formed to mesh with a gear connected to the electric motor, and an electric ring side member and the manual operation ring side member. An intermediate ring that holds a rolling member arranged in contact with both members and that is driven to rotate by the rolling of the rolling member; and that the intermediate ring is rotated by the manually operated ring or the electric motor. A lens barrel configured to move the lens in the optical axis direction. 2. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein an index of an operation state of the lens is provided on an outer surface of the intermediate ring. 3. The manually operated ring is provided with a pressing member which is slidable only in the optical axis direction and is integrally rotated, and the pressing member is biased by a spring member to a rolling member of the intermediate ring. The lens barrel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein