JP2003032528A - Cradle for digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cradle for a digital camera by which a user can confirm a liquid crystal display screen of the camera while the camera is mounted on the cradle without losing the hold performance of the camera and the user can replace a recording medium and a battery and attach/detach a communication cable or the like to/from the camera. SOLUTION: Part of a wall face of the cradle 30 covering a liquid crystal display monitor of the camera 10, a media slot 71 of a memory card 73, and terminals such as a power terminal and a USB terminal among wall faces holding the camera 10 is structured to be movable. Moving walls 43, 44, 45, 46 adopts a friction free stop structure or a click stop structure so as to be usable as a simple tripod. In order to prevent the support of the camera 10 from being unstable, the cradle 30 preferably has L-shaped upright walls 38, 39, 40 that can hold two sides having at least one set of diagonal corners inbetween among four corners of the camera 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cradle for a digital camera, and more particularly to a cradle structure suitable for a digital camera having a communication function with an external device such as a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Utility Model Application No. 4-80019
Japanese Patent No. 4050) discloses a connection structure between a first electronic device such as a mobile phone and a second electronic device corresponding to the cradle. Not only in mobile phones but also in the field of digital still cameras, there are known systems for charging a camera using a cradle and for transmitting / receiving data to / from an external device such as a personal computer.

[0003]

For example, a vertically elongated camera has a high center of gravity, and it is preferable that the side wall and the back wall of the cradle are raised to enhance the holdability of the camera for the purpose of preventing the camera from falling over. In general, the back of a digital camera is equipped with a liquid crystal display that can display images and characters and various switch buttons, and the side of the camera has a media slot for inserting removable media, an audio / video output terminal, and a power supply terminal. , Terminals of a communication interface such as USB, etc. are provided.

In the case of the above-mentioned cradle having a high wall, the liquid crystal display portion of the camera, various switch buttons, the media slot cover, the terminal portion, etc. are covered with the wall.
I could not confirm the display contents such as images with the cradle attached,
It is also impossible to attach / detach media or attach / detach communication cables.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the display of the liquid crystal display unit can be checked as necessary while the camera is mounted on the cradle without impairing the holdability of the camera. An object of the present invention is to provide a cradle for a digital camera, which enables exchange of recording media and connection of communication cables and other plugs.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the cradle for a digital camera according to the present invention is characterized in that a part of a wall surface for holding the digital camera is movable.

For example, the wall surface of the cradle that covers at least one of the media insertion portion, the image display portion, the terminal portion, and the battery insertion portion provided in the digital camera is constituted by a movable wall.

According to the present invention, in the cradle in which the camera is mounted, a part of the wall surface formed on the outer periphery of the camera mounting portion is constituted by a movable wall member (movable wall). Therefore, the camera is inserted in the cradle. Attaching and detaching the recording medium,
It is possible to confirm the display content of the image display unit, attach / detach the cable plug, or replace the battery.

The cradle of the present invention having a movable wall is capable of holding two sides sandwiching at least one pair of diagonal corners of a digital camera having a substantially rectangular cross section so as not to impair the holdability of the camera. The embodiment including a wall is preferable.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the movable wall surface is constituted by a movable wall which is rotatably supported, and the cradle has an angle adjustment capable of adjusting a stop angle of the movable wall. Means are provided, and the movable wall can be used also as a leg portion for supporting the cradle.

By supporting the movable wall by a structure such as a free-stop type or a click-stop type whose angle can be adjusted, the movable wall can be used as a simple tripod if necessary. This allows the angle of the camera inserted in the cradle to be adjusted freely.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the wall surface portion of the cradle which covers the image display unit provided in the digital camera is constituted by a rotatable movable wall and faces the display screen of the image display unit. It is characterized in that a mirror is formed inside the movable wall. Depending on the installation environment of the cradle, the space behind the cradle may be so small that the display screen of the image display unit on the back of the camera may not be visible. According to the present invention, the wall surface of the cradle that covers the portion corresponding to the image display unit is constituted by a movable wall, and a mirror is provided inside the movable wall (image display surface side), so that the mirror is set at an appropriate angle. This makes it possible to check the display screen.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the digital camera cradle communicates between a camera mounting part to which the digital camera is mounted and a digital camera mounted to the camera mounting part. A first communication means, a second communication means for communicating with an external device such as a personal computer, and a power supply terminal for supplying power to the digital camera mounted in the camera mounting part, Is equipped with.

According to this aspect, it is possible to shoot for a long time by supplying power to the digital camera from the cradle via the power supply terminal, and the image data taken by the digital camera is the first communication means. To the cradle via the cradle and to the external device via the second communication means via the cradle. As the first and second communication means, it is preferable to apply a bidirectional communication interface such as USB or IEEE1394.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of a cradle for a digital camera according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a digital camera cradle and a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The camera 10 is a digital camera capable of converting an optical image of a subject incident through the taking lens 12 into an electric signal by an image pickup device such as a CCD and recording the obtained electronic image data in a recording medium. In this example, a memory card called a smart medium (Solid-State Floppy Disk Card) is used as the recording medium, but the form of the recording medium is not limited to this, and CompactFlash (registered trademark) or other recording media can be applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the camera 10 has a vertically long, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and on the front surface of the housing 11, in addition to the taking lens 12, a viewfinder window 13, a self-timer lamp 14 and a stroboscopic light emitting section 15. Is provided.
A shutter button 16 is provided on the upper surface of the camera, and a slot cover 18 is provided on the side surface of the camera. The slot cover 18 is a door for protecting the media slot (not shown in FIG. 1, see reference numeral 71 in FIG. 5), and is provided so as to be opened and closed by a hinge mechanism (not shown). The slot cover 18 is locked in a closed state by a lock mechanism (not shown), and a lock release knob 19 is provided.
1 is operated downward in FIG. 1, the lock mechanism (not shown) of the slot cover 18 is unlocked and the slot cover 18 is opened.

Lower surface 11A of housing 11 of camera 10
A connector (hereinafter, referred to as a camera connector) 20 for making an electrical connection with the cradle 30 is provided in the.

On the other hand, the cradle 30 has a bottomed box shape with an open upper side, and the bottom of a camera mounting portion (hereinafter, mounting portion) 32 on which the camera 10 is mounted is electrically connected to the camera 10. A connector (hereinafter referred to as a cradle connector) 34 for making a connection is provided. Mounting part 3
A wall 36 standing upright is formed on the outer peripheral portion of 2, and the inner peripheral shape of the wall 36 is substantially the same as the outer peripheral shape of the lower part of the housing 11 of the camera 10.

The camera 10 is shown in FIG.
When is inserted into the cradle 30, the camera connector 20 is linked to the cradle connector 34 in conjunction with the insertion operation, the both are electrically connected, and the wall 36 holds the lower portion of the camera 10.

The wall 36 includes support columns 38, 39, 40, 41 integrally formed with the cradle main body 31, a movable wall 43,
It is composed of 44, 45 and 46. Posts 38, 3
Reference numerals 9, 40, and 41 denote fixed (immobile) wall members that stand upright at the four corners of the cradle 30, and have a substantially L-shaped cross section. When the camera 10 is inserted into the cradle 30, the supporting columns 38, 39, 40 are held by the supporting columns 38, 39, 40, 41 so that the four corners of the camera 10 (vertical ridgelines and the corners in the vicinity thereof) are held. , 41 are designed according to the outer shape of the housing 11 of the camera 10. Further, since the vertically long camera 10 has a high center of gravity, the height of the wall 36 is designed to be relatively high correspondingly.

The movable walls 43, 44, 45 and 46 respectively include two adjacent column parts (38, 39), (39, 4).
0), (40, 41) or (41, 38) is pivotally supported near the base end, and the upper side of the movable walls 43, 44, 45, 46 is on the outside of the cradle 30 as indicated by the dashed line arrow. It has a structure that can be turned toward. Movable walls 43, 4
The support structure for 4, 45 and 46 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The camera 10 and the cradle 30 shown in FIG.
USB, IrDA,
Various interfaces such as IEEE 1394 and other serial interfaces and parallel interfaces can be applied. In this example, the USB interface is applied. The camera connector 20 shown in FIG.
The cradle connector 34 is composed of a composite terminal in which a USB terminal, a power supply terminal, and, if necessary, other signal transmission terminals are combined into one connector.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, the cradle 3
A USB terminal (reference numeral 85 in FIG. 6) and a power supply terminal (reference numeral 86 in FIG. 6) are provided on the back surface of 0.
USB cord 48 is connected to the power supply terminal 86
A power cord 49 from a C power adapter (not shown) is connected. Cradle 30 via USB cord 48
The personal computer and other external devices (not shown in FIG. 1) are connected to each other, so that bidirectional communication is possible between the camera 10 and the external device.

The communication operation mode of the camera 10 at the time of USB connection includes a function (storage mode) as a card reader capable of reading and writing a recording medium of the camera 10 from a personal computer (external device) and a state in which the camera 10 is connected to the personal computer. There is a function (PC camera mode) as an image input device that shoots and sends the shot video to the personal computer side, so that the camera 10 can selectively switch the operation mode at the time of USB connection by a menu screen or the like. Is configured.

A rechargeable battery (not shown) is mounted on the camera 10, and the camera 10 is attached to the cradle 30.
The battery can be charged by setting to. Further, not only the above-described battery charging but also the power supplied from the external power source connected via the power cord 49 can be used as the power source of the camera 10.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing an example of a movable wall support structure (free stop structure). The movable wall 43 will be described with reference to FIG.
A similar structure is applied to. As shown in FIG. 2, a through hole 52 is formed in the lower part of the movable wall 43, into which a shaft 51 serving as a rotating shaft is inserted, and a friction metal plate 54 is provided between the movable wall 46 and the cradle body 31. It is arranged. The cross section of the friction metal plate 54 has a Φ shape (a U-shape whose upper side is open).
A through hole 57 through which the shaft 51 is inserted is formed in a sandwiching portion 56 standing up along the, and a connecting portion 58 connecting the left and right sandwiching portions 56 is fixed to a bottom portion of the cradle body 31 with a screw 55.

The through hole 57 of the friction sheet metal 54 and the through hole 52 of the movable wall 43 are aligned with each other, and the shaft 51 is inserted there. Male screw 6 on both ends of shaft 51
1, 62 are formed, and one end thereof (the left end in FIG. 2)
The male screw 61 is screwed into a nut 64 arranged on the support portion 38 of the cradle body 31. This nut 64
It has a detent 65 that engages the friction sheet metal 54.

The male screw 62 on the other end (right end in FIG. 2) of the shaft 51 is a nut 66 for tightening adjustment.
Is screwed onto. An opening 39 </ b> A is formed in a part (nut arrangement site) of the support column 39 so that the tightening degree of the nut 66 can be adjusted. With such a structure, it is possible to adjust the degree of tightening of the nut 66 and obtain an appropriate friction capable of stopping the movable wall 43 at an arbitrary angle.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing another example (click stop structure) of the support structure for the movable wall, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view seen from the direction of arrow B in FIG.

As shown in these drawings, the movable wall 43 is provided with a cylindrical projection (hereinafter referred to as a shaft) 43A which serves as a rotation shaft, and the shaft 43A.
Click hole 43B on the same circumference around the center
Are formed in plural. On the other hand, the column portion 39 of the cradle main body 31 is formed with a recess 39B serving as a bearing with which the shaft portion 43A of the movable wall 43 is engaged. This recess 39B
The shaft portion 43A of the movable wall 43 is inserted into the movable wall 43, and the movable wall 43 is rotatably supported.

Further, the support hole 39 has a click hole 43B.
Is provided with a click ball 68, and the click ball 68 is urged by a spring 69 toward the movable wall (to the left in FIG. 3). When the movable wall 43 is tilted, the position of the click hole 43B with which the click ball 68 engages is changed, and the stop angle of the movable wall 43 is adjusted by the position.

Next, the cradle 3 constructed as described above.
The operation of 0 will be described. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a usage pattern of the cradle 30. As shown in the figure, by tilting the movable walls 43, 44, 45, 46 of the cradle 30 outward, the movable walls 43, 44, 45, 4
6 functions as a leg portion that supports the cradle 30. Since each movable wall 43, 44, 45, 46 has a structure that can be stopped at a free angle (arbitrary angle or a plurality of positions) as described in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cradle 3
The posture of the camera 10 can be adjusted to a desired angle when the 0 is set on a desk or the like.

When the movable wall 44 on the side of the cradle is opened, the front surface of the slot cover 18 is opened, and the camera 10
It is possible to open and close the slot cover 18 with the slot inserted in the cradle 30. The memory card 73 can be inserted and removed by opening the slot cover 18 and exposing the media slot 71. When the slot cover 18 is opened while the power is on, the power is automatically turned off to protect the medium.

Although not shown, the media slot 7
On the side of the camera opposite from 1, the audio / video output terminal (A /
Terminals such as a V OUT terminal), a digital (USB) terminal, and a power input terminal are provided, and the movable wall 46 covering the side surface of the camera is tilted to open these terminals. Therefore, a plug of a cable (not shown) can be connected to the terminal with the camera 10 inserted in the cradle 30.

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view showing another usage mode of the cradle 30. As shown in the figure, on the back of the camera, a viewfinder 76, a power button 77, a mode lever 78, a menu / OK button 79, a BACK button 8
0, cross button 81, display panel 82 and liquid crystal monitor 8
3 is provided. The mode lever 78 is an operation means for switching the shooting mode and the reproduction mode.

The menu / OK button 79 is used when making a transition from the normal screen in each mode to the menu screen, confirming the selection contents, or issuing a process execution (confirmation) instruction. The BACK button 80 is used to cancel (cancel) the item selected from the menu or to return to the previous operation state.

The cross button 81 is a multi-function operation unit capable of inputting instructions in four directions of left, right, up, and down. The left key and the right key are one frame reverse feed button and one frame in the playback mode, respectively. It functions as a forward button, and the up key and the down key are used as zoom keys for magnification adjustment in the reproduction zoom function and the electronic zoom function during shooting. The cross button 81 also functions as an operation button for selecting a menu item from the menu screen displayed by pressing the menu / OK button 79 and for instructing selection of various setting items in each menu. The display panel 82 has an operation mode of the camera 10 and a cross button 8 depending on the operation status.
An icon indicating the function of 1 is displayed.

The liquid crystal monitor 83 can be used as an electronic viewfinder for confirming the angle of view at the time of photographing, and can display a preview image of the photographed image, a reproduced image read from the memory card 73 loaded in the camera 10, and the like. . Further, selection of a menu using the cross button 81 and setting of various setting items in each menu are also performed using the display screen of the liquid crystal monitor 83. Furthermore, LCD monitor 8
Information such as the number of shootable frames (shootable time for moving images) and playback frame number, macro mode display, recording image quality (quality) display, and pixel number display is also displayed at 3.

Movable wall 45 on the back of the cradle 30
The liquid crystal monitor 83 is covered by the movable wall 45 in the upright state, but when the movable wall 45 is tilted as shown in FIG. 6, the liquid crystal monitor 83 is exposed. Therefore, by tilting the movable wall 45 on the rear surface of the cradle as necessary, the liquid crystal monitor 8
The screen of 3 can be observed.

As a modification of the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a mode in which a mirror 88 is provided inside the movable wall 45 on the rear surface of the cradle (on the liquid crystal monitor 83 side). According to this mode, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the cradle 30 is placed on the desk 90, the obstacle 92 exists just behind the place where the cradle 30 is installed. Also, the display content of the liquid crystal monitor 83 can be confirmed using the mirror 88.

The scope of application of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The cradle 30 described above is constructed by the four L-shaped supporting columns 38, 39, 40 and 41.
Although the four corners are held, the cradle may have a structure that does not make the camera unstable when the movable wall is opened in the practice of the present invention, and various specific structures are possible. As shown in FIG. 9, in the cradle having a movable wall surface, the holding property of the camera is not impaired. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 94A,
It is preferable to have standing walls (fixed standing walls) 96, 97 so as to hold (94B) and (94C, 94D).

Although not shown, in the case where a battery cover (battery cover) is provided on the side surface of the camera, it is also preferable that a portion of the wall portion of the cradle which covers the battery cover is constituted by a movable wall. Such a mode is particularly effective in a camera system having a function of charging a rechargeable battery in the camera with the cradle, since the battery can be replaced while the camera is mounted in the cradle.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, a part of the wall surface of the cradle is movable, so that the removable medium can be attached / detached and the contents displayed on the image display unit can be displayed while the camera is still inserted in the cradle. Confirmation, attachment / detachment of connectors, replacement of batteries, etc. are possible. As a result, when the camera and computer are connected for communication using the cradle and images are transferred between them, the recording medium can be attached or detached while the camera remains in the cradle. Can be used as

In the case where the camera inserted in the cradle is used alone to take a picture or reproduce an image on a desk without connecting to the personal computer, or when the personal computer is connected to the personal computer to control the camera. The display screen can be viewed by opening the movable wall of the cradle and opening the image display surface of the camera.

In the cradle of the present invention, since the standing wall capable of holding two sides sandwiching at least one pair of diagonal corners of the digital camera having a substantially rectangular cross section is provided, the camera can be opened even if the movable wall is opened. Does not impair the holdability.

According to another aspect of the present invention, since the movable wall of the cradle can also be used as a simple tripod, the angle of the camera inserted in the cradle can be freely adjusted.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the cradle wall surface corresponding to the image display section provided in the digital camera is constituted by a movable wall, and a mirror is provided inside the movable wall (image display surface side). Since the image forming screen is formed, the image display screen can be confirmed through the mirror by adjusting the angle of the movable wall even in a narrow place.

According to the present invention, the application of the cradle is expanded and the convenience is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a digital camera cradle and a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing an example of a movable wall support structure in a cradle

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing another support structure of the movable wall.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view seen from the direction of arrow B in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing how the cradle is used.

FIG. 6 is a rear side perspective view showing another usage mode of the cradle.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of a cradle according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a usage pattern of the cradle shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a digital camera cradle and a digital camera according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Camera (digital camera), 20 ... Camera connector, 30 ... Cradle, 31 ... Cradle body, 34 ...
Cradle connector (first communication means), 36 ... Wall, 3
8, 39, 40, 41 ... Columns (standing wall), 43, 4
4, 45, 46 ... Movable wall, 43B ... Click hole (angle adjusting means), 51 ... Shaft, 54 ... Friction sheet metal (angle adjusting means), 64, 66 ... Nut (angle adjusting means), 68 ... Click ball, 71 ... media slot (media insertion slot), 73 ... memory card, 83 ... liquid crystal monitor (image display section), 85 ... USB terminal (second communication means), 86 ... power supply terminal, 88 ... mirror, 95 ... cradle, 96 , 97 ... Standing wall (standing wall)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A cradle for a digital camera, wherein a part of a wall surface for holding the digital camera is movable. 2. A media insertion portion, an image display portion, a terminal portion, and a battery insertion portion provided in the digital camera,
The cradle for a digital camera according to claim 1, wherein a wall surface of the cradle that covers at least one portion is constituted by a movable wall. 3. The cradle has a standing wall capable of holding two sides sandwiching at least one set of diagonal corners of a digital camera having a substantially rectangular cross section. Alternatively, the cradle for a digital camera described in 2. 4. The movable wall surface is constituted by a movable wall which is rotatably supported, and the cradle is provided with an angle adjusting means capable of adjusting a stop angle of the movable wall. The cradle for a digital camera according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the wall can also serve as a leg portion that supports the cradle. 5. A wall surface portion of a cradle that covers the image display unit provided in the digital camera is constituted by a rotatable movable wall, and a mirror is provided inside the movable wall facing the display screen of the image display unit. The cradle for a digital camera according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a ridge is formed. 6. A camera mounting part to which a digital camera is mounted, a first communication means for communicating between the digital camera mounted to the camera mounting part, and an external device such as a personal computer. 6. A second communication unit for communicating with the digital camera, and a power supply terminal for supplying power to the digital camera mounted on the camera mounting unit. The cradle for a digital camera according to item 1.