JPS6256496B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention provides a data imprinting camera that displays data display characters more clearly and in a small space.
We are able to provide better products by imprinting without damaging the image of the photo, by simplifying the data imprinting device, by making it smaller and using only one battery, and by extending the life of said battery. It's about doing.

Traditionally, data imprinting was done using light emitting diodes (hereinafter referred to as
Using LEDs (called LEDs), data was displayed on the film in synchronization with the shutter operation and was imprinted on the film. To explain along the drawings, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, LEDs 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f are
Fix it to the LED board 2 and use the wires 3 (multiple) to
Wire bonding the seven segments provided on each of the LEDs 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f and the electrodes 2a (plurality) of the LED substrate 2,
The LED block is formed by molding with a transparent molding agent 4, and the LED block is soldered to the substrate 5 and at the same time it is electrically connected to the control circuit. Data displayed by light emission is imprinted on a film 6 placed close to the LED block. However, in the case of data imprinting using LEDs, the imprint quality is poor, the equipment cost and maintenance costs are high, and the miniaturization and thinning of the camera are impaired. To explain in detail, first of all, regarding the imprint quality, the data imprinted area does not appear clearly.
If the color of the background photographed on a color film and the color emitted by the LED are similar, the photographed object or background is bright and the color displayed by the LED becomes pale. Even if you adjust the brightness of the LED according to the film sensitivity, you will not be able to make any significant improvements unless you detect the brightness and color tone of the object or background and make finer brightness adjustments, and the equipment will become expensive. I get used to it. The next problem is that the imprinted characters bleed. If the brightness adjustment described above is not appropriate and the driving current of the LED flows too much, the displayed characters may be enlarged due to the lens effect of the molding agent 4, and the film 6 and the
This is because there are no slits between the LEDs 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, and 1f.
In addition, the display character spacing is wide and the imprinting is not consistent, which limits the miniaturization of the LED and is unavoidable in order to secure space for wire bonding as mentioned above.
It spoils the image of the photo that you are trying to casually imprint with data. Regarding the high cost and maintenance costs of the second device, the purchase price of the LEDs is high, and at least six LEDs are required to display the year, month, and day.
The number of man-hours involved in mounting the LED block is high, resulting in high costs. In addition, the LED operation requires a 3V drive using two batteries connected in series, and in order to enable continuous shooting, it is necessary to imprint data within a time of 30 to 10 msec. The life of the batteries is short, and the number of batteries required to be replaced is two, which increases maintenance costs. The third problem that impedes the ability to make the camera smaller and thinner is that the LED block is structurally difficult to make smaller and thinner, and also requires space because it uses two batteries. It is.

The present invention attempts to compensate for the above-mentioned defects by increasing the transparency of the data character area displayed on the liquid crystal cell and other non-display areas, and transmitting lamp light etc. through these areas to imprint the data on the film. It is something to do. To explain along the drawings, as shown in FIG. Imprint. The structure of the data imprinting device 9 is as follows.
5 and 6, a reflection plate 11 made of a light guide member and an illumination member 12 such as a lamp are arranged on the back side of the liquid crystal cell 10, and are held and covered by a cover member 13 made of an opaque material. , is detachably attached to the liquid crystal cell 10. The electrode section 10a of the liquid crystal cell 10 and the electrode section 5a of the flexible substrate 5 are coupled together, and the lamp 12 is further coupled to the electrode section 5b. Receiving a driving electric signal from the substrate 5, the liquid crystal cell 10 displays data, the lamp 12 is turned on, and the lamp light is guided and reflected by the reflection plate 11 as more uniform indirect illumination light. The light passes through the display section of the liquid crystal cell 10 and reaches the film 6, where data is imprinted. The reflecting plate 11 uses surfaces other than the light receiving and light emitting surfaces as light scattering surfaces to improve reflection efficiency. In addition, in FIGS. 5 and 6, the lamp 1 is mounted on the reflector plate 11.
2 shows a means for increasing the reflection efficiency. For data imprinting, either a method is adopted in which the liquid crystal cell 10 is constantly displayed and the lamp 12 is controlled to turn on during photographing, or a method in which the liquid crystal cell 10 and the lamp 12 are controlled in synchronization.
FIG. 7 shows an example in which a self-luminous member such as a tritium lamp 14 is used as an illumination member.The liquid crystal cell 10 is controlled so as to be displayed only during photographing, and the display section is used to transmit the light emitted from the tritium lamp 14. It shows the means to imprint on the image. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the liquid crystal cell 10 has a liquid crystal agent 20, such as twisted nematic, sealed in a gap between transparent members 15 and 16 such as glass with a sealant 18. . In this case, a guest-host liquid crystal is used as the liquid crystal. The display portions 20a (plurality) to which a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal agent 20 have different alignments of liquid crystal molecules and are displayed transparently, while other portions are displayed in the color of the dye of the guest host. The patterns 15a (plurality) drawn out from the display portion 20a are gathered on both sides to form an electrode portion 10a coupled to the electrode portion 5a of the substrate 5. When the guest-host liquid crystal 20 in which a dye is mixed into the liquid crystal is used to drive the liquid crystal as described above, the direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the voltage application area is changed to a direction perpendicular to the voltage application electrode, and the dye is Similarly, the molecular arrangement becomes perpendicular, which releases the light blocking by the dye and allows the lamp light to pass through. In this case, by adjusting the amount of the dye to allow lamp light to pass through areas other than the data display area, the imprinted data can be made to stand out and be easily seen, and by selecting an appropriate dye tone, chromatic or achromatic colors can be created. It became possible to make the white data letters stand out in the background, further enhancing the effect. Figure 9 shows an overview of photographs taken using this method. In addition, as shown in FIG. 10, since the guest-host liquid crystal 20 itself, which contains sufficient dye, blocks light, the polarizing plates 19a and 19b as in the above-mentioned twisted nematic liquid crystal cell 10 are not required, resulting in cost reduction. This makes it possible to make the device thinner.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the operation of the data imprinting device 9 is controlled by, for example, a clock circuit 21 as a counting device.
The exposure control circuit 23 is controlled by an exposure control circuit 23 that is linked to the operation of the exposure control circuit 23.

As described above, according to the present invention, characters etc. for data imprinting are not affected by the color tone or brightness of the background where the data is imprinted, and the illumination member is included in the illumination reflection member, so that the data imprinting can be made uniform. Stable imprinting can be achieved using indirect illumination light, and the imprinted data area can also be made to stand out using a guest-host liquid crystal display, etc., and this can be done with simple brightness adjustment. Furthermore, since the liquid crystal cell close to the film also serves as a slit for lamp light, it is possible to imprint bright, unblemished lamp light in a clear and easy-to-see manner. Furthermore, the characters displayed on the liquid crystal cell can be made much smaller than on LEDs, and because the characters are spaced at appropriate intervals, the imprinted area is well-organized and does not spoil the image of the photo, increasing practicality. It can also be fully applied to film imprinting. Next, liquid crystal cells have low raw material costs and can be mass-produced because only one cell is needed, and lamps are also cheaper than LEDs, which requires less man-hours for mounting, making it possible to reduce costs. The driving voltage of the lamp is lower than that of LEDs, and the current consumption is also lower, so only one battery is required, and the lifespan can be extended, maintenance costs can be eliminated, and the display device, lighting device, etc. can be attached and detached. Therefore, maintenance is easy and maintenance costs can be reduced. Further, the data imprinting device of the present invention has the advantage that it can be structurally smaller and thinner, and only one battery is required, contributing to the miniaturization of cameras. Of course, depending on the application, it is also possible to color the lamp and color the imprint data. Furthermore, using a self-luminous member such as the tritium lamp described above in place of the lamp is effective in terms of energy and circuit configuration.

Incidentally, by arranging the data imprinting device 9 on the back side of the film 6 as in the present invention, the tight space on the lens 8 side is made more comfortable, which of course contributes to making the camera smaller and thinner. It is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show the LED block portion of a conventional camera data imprinting device, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an overview of the present invention, and FIGS.
6 and 7 are cross-sectional views showing the data imprinting device of the present invention, FIGS. 8 and 10 are a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a liquid crystal cell for data imprinting, and FIG. The figure shows an outline of a photograph taken with data imprinting according to the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a circuit for driving and controlling the data imprinting apparatus of the present invention. 1a to 1f...LED, 2...LED board, 5...
...Substrate, 6...Film, 9...Data imprinting device, 10...Liquid crystal cell, 11...Reflector, 12
... Lamp, 13 ... Cover member, 14 ... Tritium lamp, 15, 16 ... Transparent member, 17 ...
...LCD, 20...Guest host LCD.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a data imprinting device for a camera that is connected to a clock circuit and imprints time information etc. on the film,
a liquid crystal cell whose surface is placed facing a camera film; a lighting member placed on the back side of the liquid crystal cell that emits light in conjunction with theater operation; and a connection board that guides signals from the clock circuit to the liquid crystal cell. The liquid crystal cell consists of two transparent members enclosing a liquid crystal agent, and a voltage application electrode provided on each of the two transparent members to drive the liquid crystal agent, The data imprinting device for a camera is characterized in that a guest-host liquid crystal is used that makes only the voltage application electrode portion translucent when a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal cell.