JP7263566B2 - Imaging device and moving body - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an imaging device and a moving object.

In recent years, compact cameras called action cams and wearable cameras have become popular (see Patent Document 1, for example). Such a camera is attached not only to the body of the photographer, but also to a bicycle or a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle), which is a moving object, to capture moving images while the moving object is moving.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing how a conventional small camera is attached to a drone. FIG. 12(A) is an exploded view for explaining the mounting structure of the camera, and FIG. 12(B) is a perspective view of the drone to which the camera is mounted. In FIGS. 12(A) and 12(B), the drone 1 consists of a quadcopter equipped with a plurality of propellers, for example, four. Let In addition, the drone 1 can change its attitude by changing the balance of the airframe by making the number of rotations of the propellers unbalanced. A small camera 2 attached to the drone 1 consists of an action cam. The camera 2 is equipped with an optical lens unit capable of photographing at a relatively wide angle. The camera 2 is held by a gimbal 3 that is a holding member. The gimbal 3 is fixed to the drone 1 with screws 4, and the camera 2 is fixed to the gimbal 3 by fixing parts (not shown). Adhesive double-sided tape, a binding band, etc. are applied as fixing components, for example. The gimbal 3 incorporates an attitude maintaining mechanism (not shown) that maintains the fixed attitude of the camera 2 . The attitude maintenance mechanism controls the movement of the camera 2 in the pan (horizontal/left/right) direction/tilt (vertical/up/down) direction/roll (rotation) direction, and eliminates the influence of the drone 1 shaking on the image captured by the camera.

In order to change the direction in which the camera 2 of the drone 1 in FIG. cause inconvenience to people. Moreover, when the camera 2 is attached to the handle of a bicycle, it is necessary to change the direction of the handle in order to change the imaging direction, which causes inconvenience to the bicycle driver. Furthermore, when the camera 2 is attached to the body of the photographer, it is necessary to change the orientation of the body in order to change the imaging direction, which again causes inconvenience to the photographer.

Therefore, it is proposed to change the imaging direction without changing the direction of the drone body or the handle by attaching a rotation drive mechanism to the drone or handle that can move the camera relatively large in the pan and tilt directions. (See Patent Document 2, for example).

JP 2016-82463 A JP 2009-58870 A

However, the rotation drive mechanism of Patent Document 2 uses a tilt drive mechanism in which a pulley is attached to the rotation shaft of the lens barrel of the camera, and a timing belt is wound around the pulley to transmit the driving force of the motor to the pulley. In particular, in order to finely control the rotation in the tilt direction, the rotation of the motor must be significantly decelerated, which requires a plurality of pulleys and timing belts, resulting in an increase in the size of the tilt drive mechanism. As a result, the imaging device consisting of a camera and a rotation drive mechanism also becomes larger, and there is a risk that the degree of freedom in attaching it to the handle of a drone or bicycle will be reduced. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device and a moving body that can be downsized.

In order to achieve the above object, an image pickup apparatus of the present invention includes an image pickup section, a base section, and an arm section erected from the base section and supporting the image pickup section in rotation about a tilt axis. an image pickup device comprising: a tilt rotary plate positioned on one side surface of the image pickup unit and having a sliding surface; and a tilt driving unit for rotating the image pickup unit about the tilt axis as a central axis, The tilt drive unit is fixed to the arm and has a contact point that contacts the sliding surface and a pressurizing unit that presses the contact point against the sliding surface. The arm is provided with an opening that opens so as to face the imaging unit, and the contact point is arranged in the opening.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an imaging device and a moving object that can be downsized.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a drone equipped with a camera as an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the camera in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a panning unit included in the camera of FIG. 2; FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the camera of FIG. 2; FIG. FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining how the tilt drive unit and the tilt position detection unit are attached to the pan chassis of the pan unit; FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a drive section of the tilt drive unit; FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a tilt optical sensor of the tilt position detection unit; FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the internal configuration of the base unit in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the drive section of the pan drive unit; FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a pan optical sensor of the pan position detection unit; FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a camera as an imaging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing how a conventional small camera is attached to a drone;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a camera as an imaging device mounted on a drone (moving body) as an unmanned aerial vehicle, but the application of the present invention is not limited to this. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to electronic devices in general that include a driven body that is driven by an actuator. In addition, the camera to which the present invention is applied can be mounted not only on drones but also on other mobile objects (automobiles and bicycles), and can also be mounted on the body of the photographer. First, an imaging device (electronic device) according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a drone equipped with a camera as an imaging device according to this embodiment. FIG. 1A shows the drone in landing state, and FIG. 1B shows the drone in flight state.

In FIG. 1, the drone 10 has four propellers 11a to 11d (hereinafter collectively referred to as "propellers 11") (flying mechanism). The number of propellers varies depending on the size and weight of the drone 10, application, and the like. The drone 10 of FIG. 1 consists of a quadcopter with four propellers, and flies due to lift produced by each rotating propeller 11 . Further, by aligning the number of revolutions of all the propellers 11, the airframe can be hovered in the air, and by making the number of revolutions of the propellers 11 unbalanced, the balance of the body can be changed to change the posture.

A camera 100 is attached to the drone 10 . The camera 100 is attached to the drone 10 using, for example, an adhesive double-sided tape or a binding band, but may be attached to the drone 10 using a mounting device such as an attachment. Although the mounting position of the camera 100 in the drone 10 is not particularly limited, the camera 100 is mounted near the center and below the aircraft from the viewpoint of ease of imaging and weight balance. The drone 10 further includes skids 12a and 12b, which are a pair of landing legs. The skids 12a and 12b are foldable, protrude below the drone 10 during landing (FIG. 1(A)), and are pulled up toward the body of the drone 10 during flight (FIG. 1(B)). This prevents the camera 100 attached to the lower part of the aircraft from coming into contact with the ground or the like during landing, and also prevents the camera 100 from photographing the skids 12a and 12b during flight.

2 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the camera in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a panning unit included in the camera of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the camera of FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view for explaining how the tilt drive unit and the tilt position detection unit are attached to the pan chassis of the pan unit. In particular, FIGS. 3A and 3B show the configuration of the panning unit viewed from different directions. Further, FIG. 5(A) shows the tilt drive unit in a disassembled state, and FIG. 5(B) shows a state in which the tilt drive unit and the tilt position detection unit are attached to the pan chassis. In FIG. 4, for convenience of explanation, the direction parallel to the axis T, which will be described later, is defined as the X direction, and the direction parallel to the axis P, which will be described later, is defined as the Y direction. The optical axis direction of the lens unit 50 is defined as the Z direction.

2 to 5, the camera 100 includes a base unit 20 (base portion), a panning unit (hereinafter referred to as “pan unit”) 30, and a tilting unit ( 40, which is hereinafter referred to as a “tilt unit”. The pan unit 30 is placed on the base unit 20 so as to be horizontally rotatable (panning), and the tilt unit 40 is attached to the pan unit 30 so as to be vertically rotatable (tilting). Here, the axis P in FIG. 2 indicates the central axis of horizontal rotation of the pan unit 30 (another axis of rotation), and the axis T indicates the central axis of vertical rotation of the tilt unit 40 (the axis of rotation of the imaging section). Axis P and axis T are orthogonal to each other. The lens unit 50 has an imaging optical system and photographs a subject. Even if the flying attitude of the drone 10 is kept constant during flight, the camera 100 can shoot the subject from various directions and angles by rotating the lens unit 50 horizontally or vertically by the pan unit 30 and the tilt unit 40. can do. Camera 100 further includes a wireless communication unit (not shown). The camera 100 receives operations from external devices via the wireless communication unit. For example, the camera 100 receives operations such as remote photography and transfer of photographed images from a terminal device such as a smartphone.

The base unit 20 has a base cover 210 , a control board 220 and a bottom cover 230 . The control board 220 is equipped with a CPU, a memory, and the like for image processing, and is also equipped with a driver IC for driving and controlling the pan unit 30 and the tilt unit 40 . The bottom cover 230 mounts a recording unit 231 and a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as “FPC”) 232 . The recording unit 231 is, for example, a printed board on which a connector capable of accommodating a card-type nonvolatile memory is mounted, and is electrically connected to the control board 220 by the FPC 232 . The camera 100 records a captured image by writing image data generated through image processing to a nonvolatile memory mounted in the recording unit 231 .

The pan unit 30 has a pan base 310 , a pan cover 320 and a pan rotating plate 330 . The pan base 310 includes a pan chassis 311 (holding portion) formed by bending a sheet metal into a U-shape by press working, and a disc-shaped pan base 312 made of resin processed by a method such as injection molding. and The pan chassis 311 is fixed to the pan base 312 with screws. The tilt unit 40 consists of a cylindrical member arranged along the horizontal direction. A pair of tilt rotation support portions 311a as pivot members including through holes are fastened to the vicinity of the upper end of the pan chassis 311 with screws. The tilt rotation support portion 311a is formed by injection molding a resin (for example, polyacetal (POM) or the like) having low friction and excellent slidability. A rolling bearing such as a ball bearing or a roller bearing may be employed as the tilt rotation support portion 311a. A tilt shaft portion 40a projecting along the axis T from each side surface of the tilt unit 40 is fitted to each tilt rotation support portion 311a. As a result, the tilt unit 40 is held by the pan chassis 311 and supported by the pan unit 30 in a rotatable (vertically rotatable) state about the axis T as the central axis. The pan base 312 has a pan shaft portion 312a that protrudes downward. combined. Further, inside the base cover 210, by fastening the pan rotating plate 330 made of an annular member to the pan base 312, the pan unit 30 can rotate (horizontally rotate) about the axis P as the central axis. is placed on The lens unit 50 is electrically connected to the control board 220 by wiring 51 . The wiring 51 is composed of, for example, a plurality of electric wires in which conductor cores are covered with an insulator, connectors connected to both ends of each electric wire, and adhesive tape for bundling the electric wires over a certain length. The wire used for wiring 51 may be, for example, a coaxial cable composed of an inner conductor, an insulator, an outer conductor and a protective coating.

A pan chassis 311 made of a U-shaped member includes a base portion 311b having a flat surface fastened to the pan base 312 with screws, and a pair of arms 311c erected substantially perpendicularly to the base portion 311b. consists of A tilt rotary plate 41 is fixed to one side surface of the tilt unit 40 with screws. A tilt reflection scale 42 is attached to the other side surface of the tilt unit 40 with a double-faced tape 40b. When the tilt unit 40 is supported by the pan unit 30, the tilt rotary plate 41 and the tilt reflection scale 42 face the arms 311c. An opening 311d is formed in the base portion 311b, and an opening 311e (defective portion) and an opening 311f are formed in the arm portion 311c. The opening 311e and the opening 311f may be formed by holes formed in the arm 311c, or may be formed by cutting out a part of the arm 311c. A wiring 51 extending from the tilt unit 40 is connected to the control board 220 through the opening 311d. In the pan chassis 311, a tilt drive unit 350 (actuator) described later is arranged so as to enter the opening 311e, and a tilt position detection unit 360 (position detection section) described later is arranged so as to enter the opening 311f. .

In camera 100 , control board 220 is fixed to base cover 210 after pan unit 30 and tilt unit 40 are attached to base cover 210 . A plurality of connectors are mounted on the control board 220 to which not only the wiring 51 but also FPCs extending from the tilt drive unit 350 and the tilt position detection unit 360 are connected. A recording unit 231 is attached to the bottom cover 230 in advance. A connector for FPC connection is mounted on the recording unit 231 . One end of the FPC 232 is connected to the connector, and the other end of the FPC 232 is connected to a connector arranged on the control board 220 before the bottom cover 230 is assembled to the base cover 210 . The bottom cover 230 is fixed to the base cover 210 with screws. A battery contact 231 a is mounted on the lower portion of the recording unit 231 . An opening is formed in the bottom cover 230 so as to face the battery contact 231a, and the tip portion of the battery contact 231a is exposed. In the camera 100, an external power supply (not shown) is attached to the bottom cover 230. As shown in FIG. As an external power supply, for example, a battery pack equipped with an alkaline secondary battery or a lithium ion secondary battery corresponds. The bottom cover 230 is formed with an attachment portion 230a for an external power supply. When the external power supply is fixed to the attachment portion 230a, the electronic contact on the external power supply side comes into contact with the battery contact 231a, and power is supplied to the camera 100. Note that the external power supply may be mounted on the main body of the drone 10 . In this case, when the camera 100 is attached to the drone 10 , the battery contact 231 a contacts an electronic contact (not shown) formed at the bottom of the drone 10 and power is supplied from the drone 10 to the camera 100 .

The tilt drive unit 350 is an actuator composed of a so-called ultrasonic motor that drives a driven body using ultrasonic vibration. When using an ultrasonic motor, it is necessary to bring the ultrasonic motor into pressure contact with the driven body in order to transmit the driving force to the driven body. Also in the present embodiment, the tilt drive unit 350 is brought into pressure contact with the tilt unit 40 as will be described later. The tilt drive unit 350 has a drive portion 351 (transmission portion), a felt 352 , a presser 353 , a spring 354 and a case 355 .

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the drive section of the tilt drive unit. In FIG. 6, the drive unit 351 has a vibrator 351a, a piezoelectric element 351b, an FPC 351c as a wiring member, and a base member 351d. The piezoelectric element 351b applies ultrasonic vibration to the vibrator 351a, and the FPC 351c is adhesively fixed to the piezoelectric element 351b to apply a high frequency voltage to the piezoelectric element 351b. The base member 351d holds the vibrator 351a, the piezoelectric element 351b, and the FPC 351c, and presses the vibrator 351a into contact with the tilt unit 40 when the tilt drive unit 350 is attached to the arm portion 311c of the pan chassis 311. FIG. The FPC 351c is directly connected to the control board 220 and applies an arbitrary high frequency voltage to the piezoelectric element 351b according to the control signal from the driver IC. The vibrator 351a has contact points 351e (protrusions) composed of a plurality of protrusions. When a high-frequency voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 351b, vibration of an arbitrary frequency is excited in the vibrator 351a, generating a driving force for driving the driven body in the arrangement direction of the contact points 351e. Since the vibrator 351 a is pressed against the tilt unit 40 , the driving force is transmitted to the tilt unit 40 to move the tilt unit 40 relative to the tilt drive unit 350 .

2 to 5, in the tilt drive unit 350, the case 355 is fixed to the arm portion 311c with screws, and the spring 354 supported by the case 355 presses the drive portion 351 via the felt 352 and the presser 353. FIG. The presser 353 is arranged inside the base member 351d of the driving portion 351, slides in a direction parallel to the axis T, and transmits the local pressing force of the spring 354 over a wide range. As a result, in the tilt drive unit 350 , the vibrator 351 a is pressed without tilting, and the plurality of contact points 351 e of the drive section 351 are evenly pressed against the tilt unit 40 . Further, the felt 352 is arranged between the presser 353 and the driving portion 351 to attenuate the vibration generated by the vibrator 351 a and suppress the transmission of the vibration to the presser 353 and the spring 354 . The tilt drive unit 350 is attached to the arm 311c such that at least each contact point 351e enters the opening 311e of the arm 311c.

As described above, the tilt rotary plate 41 is fixed to one side surface of the tilt unit 40, and each contact point 351e is pressure-contacted with the friction sliding surface 41a (transmission receiving plane) of the tilt rotary plate 41. FIG. The friction sliding surface 41a is subjected to surface treatment such as lapping to form a smooth flat surface with high flatness. Further, the tilt rotary plate 41 is made of a stainless material or the like which has undergone a hardening treatment such as nitriding. As a result, the tilt rotary plate 41 achieves both stable contact at the contact points 351e and low wear. As the hardening treatment of the tilt rotary plate 41, for example, a carburizing method may be used in which carbon is added to the surface of the friction sliding surface 41a for hardening.

Also, the tilt position detection unit 360 has a spacer 361 and an FPC 362 , and the FPC 362 is mounted with an optical sensor 363 for tilting. The FPC 362 is fixed to the arm portion 311c via a spacer 361 with screws so that a part of the tilt optical sensor 363 enters the opening 311f of the arm portion 311c. As described above, the tilt reflective scale 42 is provided on the other side surface of the tilt unit 40. The tilt position detection unit 360 is configured such that the tilt optical sensor 363 and the tilt reflective scale 42 are placed at a predetermined interval. They are attached to the arm portion 311c so as to face each other. The FPC 362 is also connected to the control board 220 via wiring (not shown), and outputs the detection result of the tilt optical sensor 363 to the CPU. The tilting reflection scale 42 has an optical grating 42a (reflecting portion) composed of a plurality of bright and dark patterns arranged circumferentially around the tilting shaft portion 40a at regular intervals. Resins such as acrylic (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC) are used as the base material of the tilting reflection scale 42, for example. Further, in the tilt reflection scale 42, an optical grating 42a made of, for example, an aluminum film is formed as a reflection film on the surface of the substrate. The base material of the tilt reflection scale 42 is not limited to the base material described above, and may be quartz glass, soda lime glass, or a silicon wafer, for example. Also, for example, a chromium film may be used as the optical grating 42a.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the tilt optical sensor of the tilt position detection unit. FIG. 7A is a view of the tilt optical sensor from the tilt unit side, and FIG. 7B is a view of the tilt optical sensor from the front side of the camera. The tilt optical sensor 363 includes a substrate 363a, and a light emitting section 363b and a light receiving section array 363c mounted on the substrate 363a. The light-emitting portion 363b irradiates the tilting reflection scale 42 with light, and the light-receiving portion array 363c receives the reflected light from the tilting reflection scale 42. As shown in FIG. For example, a light emitting diode is used as the light emitting unit 363b, and a phototransistor is used as the light receiving unit array 363c. Specifically, the light-receiving unit array 363c is composed of a plurality of phototransistors arranged in a range where reflected light from the light-dark pattern of the optical grating 42a caused by the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 363b is incident. The tilting optical sensor 363 receives the reflected light from the light-dark pattern of the optical grating 42a by the light receiving section array 363c, and converts the received reflected light into an electric signal. Reflected light from the light-and-dark pattern of the optical grating 42a forms an image of the reflection pattern, a so-called reflectance distribution image. The light-receiving unit array 363c photoelectrically converts the reflectance distribution image and outputs an electric signal having a sinusoidal waveform corresponding to the light quantity distribution of the reflectance distribution image. In the camera 100, when the tilting reflection scale 42 and the tilting optical sensor 363 move relative to each other, the reflectance distribution image formed by the reflected light from the light-and-dark pattern of the optical grating 42a changes. The camera 100 detects the rotational position of the tilt unit 40 by reading a sinusoidal electric signal corresponding to this change. The rotation direction of the tilt unit 40 can be detected by reading the changing direction of the reflected light incident on the light receiving section array 363c from the optical grating 42a.

8 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the internal configuration of the base unit in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 8 shows how the pan unit 30 to which the tilt unit 40 is attached is preliminarily held by the base cover 210 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal rotation (panning) direction. At this time, the pan shaft portion 312a is fitted to the pan rotation support portion 210a. The pan rotation support portion 210a is made of a resin (for example, polyacetal (for example, polyacetal ( POM), etc.) is formed by injection molding. A rolling bearing such as a ball bearing or a roller bearing may be employed as the pan rotation support portion 210a. As a result, the pan unit 30 is supported by the base unit 20 so as to be able to rotate smoothly around the axis P (horizontal rotation). A pan rotating plate 330 is fastened to the pan shaft portion 312a of the pan unit 30 from the bottom side of the camera 100 with screws. A pan reflective scale 331 is attached to the pan rotating plate 330 with a double-faced tape (not shown). After the pan rotary plate 330 and the pan reflection scale 331 are incorporated into the base cover 210, the main chassis 240 is incorporated from the bottom side of the camera 100, and the main chassis 240 is fixed to the base cover 210 with screws. The main chassis 240 is formed with openings 240a and 240b in addition to the screw holes. The opening 240b consists of a circular opening and a rectangular opening arranged adjacent to each other. The wiring 51 extending from the tilt unit 40 is inserted through the circular opening of the opening 240 b and connected to the control board 220 . A pan drive unit 250 that drives the pan unit 30 and a pan position detection unit 260 that detects the rotation of the pan unit 30 are attached to the main chassis 240 . Specifically, the pan drive unit 250 is arranged to enter the rectangular opening of the opening 240b, and the pan position detection unit 260 is arranged to enter the opening 240a. The pan drive unit 250 is an actuator composed of an ultrasonic motor having the same configuration as the tilt drive unit 350 described above. Therefore, in order to transmit the driving force, the pan drive unit 250 presses into contact with the pan rotary plate 330 fastened to the pan unit 30, as will be described later. The pan drive unit 250 has a drive portion 251 , a felt 252 , a presser 253 , a spring 254 and a case 255 .

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the drive section of the pan drive unit. In FIG. 9, the drive unit 251 has a vibrator 251a, a piezoelectric element 251b, an FPC 251c as a wiring member, and a base member 251d. The piezoelectric element 251b applies ultrasonic vibration to the vibrator 251a, and the FPC 251c is adhesively fixed to the piezoelectric element 251b to apply a high frequency voltage to the piezoelectric element 251b. The base member 251d holds the vibrator 251a, the piezoelectric element 251b, and the FPC 251c, and pressurizes the vibrator 251a into contact with the pan rotating plate 330 when the pan drive unit 250 is attached to the main chassis 240. FIG. The FPC 251c is directly connected to the control board 220 and applies an arbitrary high frequency voltage to the piezoelectric element 251b according to the control signal from the driver IC. The vibrator 251a has a contact point 251e consisting of a plurality of protrusions. When a high-frequency voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 251b, vibration of an arbitrary frequency is excited in the vibrator 251a, generating a driving force for driving the driven body in the arrangement direction of the contact points 251e. Since the vibrator 251 a is pressure-contacted with the pan rotary plate 330 , the driving force is transmitted to the pan rotary plate 330 to move the pan unit 30 relative to the pan driving unit 250 .

In the pan driving unit 250 , a case 255 is fixed to the main chassis 240 with screws, and a spring 254 supported by the case 255 presses the driving portion 251 via felt 252 and presser 253 . The presser 253 is arranged inside the base member 251d of the driving portion 251, slides in a direction parallel to the axis P, and transmits the local pressing force of the spring 254 over a wide range. As a result, in the pan drive unit 250 , the vibrator 251 a is pressed without tilting, and the plurality of contact points 251 e of the drive section 251 are evenly pressurized against the pan rotary plate 330 . Further, the felt 252 is arranged between the presser 253 and the driving portion 251 to attenuate the vibration generated by the vibrator 251 a and suppress the transmission of the vibration to the presser 253 and the spring 254 . The pan drive unit 250 is attached to the main chassis 240 such that at least each contact point 251 e enters a rectangular opening of the opening 240 b of the main chassis 240 .

A friction sliding surface 330a is formed on the lower surface of the pan rotating plate 330, and each contact point 251e presses and contacts the friction sliding surface 330a. The friction sliding surface 330a is subjected to surface processing such as lapping to form a smooth flat surface with high flatness. Further, the pan rotary plate 330 is made of a stainless material or the like that has undergone a hardening treatment such as nitriding. As a result, the pan rotating plate 330 achieves both stable contact at each contact point 251e and low wear. As the hardening treatment of the pan rotating plate 330, for example, a carburizing method may be used in which carbon is added to the surface of the friction sliding surface 330a to harden it.

The pan position detection unit 260 also has an FPC 261 on which a pan optical sensor 262 is mounted. The FPC 261 is fixed to the main chassis 240 with screws so that a portion of the pan optical sensor 262 enters the opening 240 a of the main chassis 240 . As described above, the pan reflective scale 331 is provided on the lower surface of the pan rotating plate 330. In the pan position detection unit 260, the pan optical sensor 262 and the pan reflective scale 331 face each other across a predetermined gap. It is attached to the main chassis 240 so as to do. The FPC 261 is also connected to the control board 220 via wiring (not shown), and outputs the detection result of the pan optical sensor 262 to the CPU. The pan reflective scale 331 has an optical grating 331a consisting of a plurality of bright and dark patterns circumferentially arranged around the axis P (pan axis portion 312a) at regular intervals. Resin such as acrylic (PMMA) or polycarbonate (PC) is used as the base material of the pan reflection scale 331, for example. In addition, in the reflective scale for bread 331, an optical grating 331a made of, for example, an aluminum film is formed as a reflective film on the surface of the substrate. In addition, the base material of the reflective scale for bread 331 is not limited to the base material described above, and for example, quartz glass, soda lime glass, or a silicon wafer may be used. Also, for example, a chromium film may be used as the optical grating 331a.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the pan optical sensor of the pan position detection unit. FIG. 10A is a view of the optical sensor for panning viewed from the pan unit side, and FIG. 10B is a view of the optical sensor for panning viewed from the front side of the camera. The pan optical sensor 262 includes a substrate 262a, and a light emitting portion 262b and a light receiving portion array 262c mounted on the substrate 262a. The light-emitting portion 262b irradiates the reflective scale 331 for panning with light, and the light-receiving portion array 262c receives the reflected light from the reflective scale 331 for panning. For example, a light emitting diode is used as the light emitting unit 262b, and a phototransistor is used as the light receiving unit array 262c. Specifically, the light-receiving unit array 262c is composed of a plurality of phototransistors arranged in a range where reflected light from the light-dark pattern of the optical grating 331a caused by the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 262b is incident. The panning optical sensor 262 receives the reflected light from the light-and-dark pattern of the optical grating 331a by the light receiving section array 262c, and converts the received reflected light into an electrical signal. Reflected light from the light-and-dark pattern of the optical grating 331a forms an image of the reflection pattern, a so-called reflectance distribution image. The light-receiving unit array 262c photoelectrically converts the reflectance distribution image and outputs an electrical signal having a sinusoidal waveform corresponding to the light amount distribution of the reflectance distribution image. In the camera 100, when the pan reflection scale 331 and the pan optical sensor 262 move relative to each other, the reflectance distribution image formed by the reflected light from the light-and-dark pattern of the optical grating 331a changes. The camera 100 detects the rotational position of the pan rotating plate 330 , that is, the pan unit 30 by reading a sinusoidal electric signal corresponding to this change. The rotation direction of the pan unit 30 can be detected by reading the changing direction of the reflected light incident on the light receiving section array 262c from the optical grating 331a.

Returning to FIG. 5, in the camera 100, the midpoint M of the imaginary straight line connecting the pair of contact points 351e is located on the axis T in the projection view from the top (when viewed along the axis P). A tilt drive unit 350 is assembled to the arm portion 311c. More specifically, the tilt drive unit 350 is arranged such that the midpoint M of the imaginary straight line is positioned on the imaginary plane defined by the T and P axes. As a result, the driving force of the driving portion 351 can be transmitted to the tilt unit 40 without deviation (in a well-balanced manner), and the tilt unit 40 can be rotated smoothly.

Also, in the tilt drive unit 350, the case 355, the spring 354, the felt 352, the presser 353, and the drive part 351 are arranged in an overlapping manner, so the tilt drive unit 350 has a certain thickness. However, as described above, the tilt drive unit 350 is arranged so that at least each contact point 351e of the drive portion 351 enters the opening 311e of the arm portion 311c, and the case 355 sandwiches other members therebetween. First, it is fixed to the arm portion 311c. Therefore, the amount of protrusion along the axis T from the arm portion 311c of the tilt drive unit 350 can be reduced. Specifically, when viewed along the axis P, the tilt drive unit 350 assembled to the arm portion 311c fits within the area in which the pan chassis 311 rotates. More specifically, when viewed along the axis P, the tilt drive unit 350 moves along the chord AB formed by points A and B at which an imaginary straight line along the surface of the tilt rotary plate 41 and the outer edge of the pan cover 320 intersect. , and the arc AB at the outer edge of the pan cover 320 . As a result, the spatial volume occupied by the constituent elements of the camera 100 can be reduced, and the camera 100 can be miniaturized.

4, the tilt drive unit 350 is arranged between the tilt shaft portion 40a (tilt rotation support portion 311a) and the pan base 312. As shown in FIG. As described above, the tilt unit 40 holds the lens unit 50, and the optical axis center of the lens unit 50 intersects the axis T when the lens unit 50 faces the front. As a result, the amount of swinging of the lens unit 50 (tilt unit 40) during tilt rotation about the axis T can be reduced, and the camera 100 can be miniaturized.

In the camera 100 , the entire tilt unit 40 can be positioned slightly above the base unit 20 by arranging the tilt unit 40 so that the center of the optical axis of the lens unit 50 intersects the axis T. Thereby, a constant space can be secured between the tilt shaft portion 40 a (tilt rotation support portion 311 a ) and the pan base 312 . Thereby, the tilt drive unit 350 can be arranged in that space. As a result, the spatial volume occupied by the constituent elements of the camera 100 can be reduced compared to the case where the tilt drive unit 350 is arranged separately from the above space, so that the camera 100 can be miniaturized.

Furthermore, in the camera 100, the tilt drive unit 350 is pressure-contacted to the tilt unit 40 and directly transmits the driving force. This allows the camera 100 to be made even more compact. In camera 100, tilt position detection unit 360 is attached to arm 311c different from arm 311c to which tilt drive unit 350 is attached. As a result, the space between the tilt shaft portion 40a (tilt rotation support portion 311a) and the pan base 312 can be effectively utilized to further reduce the spatial volume occupied by the components of the camera 100. FIG.

By the way, in the camera 100 in FIG. 4, when the distance from the axis T (rotation center of the tilt unit 40) in the Y direction to the contact point 351e of the tilt drive unit 350 is D1, the shorter the distance D1 is, the better. As a result, the movement angle (rotational movement amount) of the tilt unit 40 per vibration of the contact point 351e can be increased, so that the rotational movement speed of the tilt unit 40 can be increased. At this time, the distance D1 is determined by the friction load of the tilt rotation support portion 311a and the tilt shaft portion 40a, the weight of the tilt unit 40, the sliding friction load of the wiring 51 when the tilt unit 40 rotates, and the tilt drive unit 350. Determined in consideration of driving force. Further, when the distance from the axis T in the Y direction to the detection point where the tilt optical sensor 363 detects the reflected light from the optical grating 42a is D2, the longer the distance D2 is, the better. As a result, the amount of rotational movement of the tilt unit 40 per unit movement angle at the detection point can be increased, thereby improving the accuracy of the reflectance distribution image obtained by the tilt optical sensor 363 . At this time, the distance D2 is determined in consideration of the maximum diameter of the tilt reflection scale 42 that can be accommodated in the pan cover 320 . In particular, in the camera 100, it is preferable to set the arrangement and size of each component so that the distance D1 is equal to or less than the distance D2. As a result, it is possible to achieve both an increase in the speed of the tilt operation and an improvement in the accuracy of the tilt rotation detection.

After the pan unit 30 and the tilt unit 40 have been assembled to the base cover 210, the control board 220 and the bottom cover 230 are assembled to the base cover 210, and the assembly of the camera 100 is completed.

In this embodiment, the tilt rotary plate 41 and the tilt reflection scale 42 are attached to the tilt unit 40 as separate parts. You may As a result, the double-sided tape 40b can be omitted, the length of the tilt unit 40 along the axis T can be shortened, and the camera 100 can be further miniaturized. The pan base 310 is composed of the pan chassis 311 made of sheet metal and the pan base 312 made of resin. good too.

Next, an imaging device (electronic device) according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is basically the same as the above-described first embodiment in terms of its configuration and action, so the duplicated configuration and action will be omitted, and the different configuration and action will be described below. Give an explanation.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a camera as an imaging device according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 11, as in FIG. 4, the direction parallel to the axis T is defined as the X direction, and the direction parallel to the axis P is defined as the Y direction for convenience of explanation.

In camera 200 as an imaging device according to the present embodiment, each arm 311c of pan chassis 311 extends upward from each arm 311c of camera 100 . Also, the tilt drive unit 350 and the tilt position detection unit 360 are attached above the axis T to each arm 311c. As a result, other components can be arranged in a certain space between the tilt axis portion 40a and the pan base 312, and in the camera 200, microphones (hereinafter simply referred to as "microphones") 500a and 500b are placed in that space. is placed. A condenser microphone, a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) microphone, or the like is used as the microphones 500a and 500b. Microphone 500 a is mounted on FPC 351 c extending downward from tilt drive unit 350 and electrically connected to control board 220 . Microphone 500 b is mounted on FPC 362 extending downward from tilt position detection unit 360 and electrically connected to control board 220 . Bushes 510 and 520 are attached to the microphones 500a and 500b, respectively. As a material used for the bushes 510 and 520, an elastic material is used, for example, ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM) or silicone rubber is used. Sound collecting holes 510a and 520a are formed in the bushes 510 and 520 corresponding to the sound collecting portions of the microphones 500a and 500b. Sound collecting holes 320a and 320b are formed in the pan cover 320 corresponding to the sound collecting holes 510a and 520a. Inside pan cover 320 , microphones 500 a and 500 b and bushes 510 and 520 are held between pan cover 320 and pan chassis 311 . The bushes 510 and 520 are in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the pan cover 320, and can take in the sound entering from the sound collection holes 320a and 320b without leaking.

In the camera 200, by arranging the tilt drive unit 350 and the tilt position detection unit 360 above the axis T, the microphones 500a and 500b can be arranged without increasing the size of the camera 100 in the direction of the axis T. can be done. Also, in the camera 200, by arranging the microphones 500a and 500b, the position of the sound source may be specified by detecting the time difference between the sounds recorded by the microphones 500a and 500b. Furthermore, the lens unit 50 may be automatically directed toward the identified position of the sound source.

Although each embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist thereof. For example, in the camera 200, the microphones 500a and 500b are arranged in the space between the tilt axis part 40a and the pan base 312 (hereinafter referred to as "accommodation space"), but other units, modules or devices are arranged in the accommodation space. You may For example, a vocalization unit such as a buzzer or speaker may be arranged in the accommodation space. In this case, for example, it is possible to add a sounding function for producing an arbitrary sound when an image similar to pre-recorded image data is confirmed in the image to be shot. Also, a light-emitting element such as a light-emitting diode (LED) may be arranged in the housing space. Thereby, an LED tag (visible light communication unit) can be added to the drone 10 on which the camera 200 is mounted. In this case, when flying in an arbitrary flight space, the drone receives light emission information that can only be received by a drone that has flight authorization, and causes the LED tag to emit light in response to the reception. As a result, it is possible to communicate to the outside that the drone is licensed for flight. The position forming the accommodation space is not limited to between the tilt shaft portion 40a and the pan base 312, and the accommodation space may be provided at any position as long as the camera 100 (200) is not enlarged.

P, T axes D1, D2 Distance 10 Drone 11 Propeller 20 Base unit 30 Pan unit 40 Tilt unit 41 Tilt rotary plate 41a Friction sliding surface 42a Optical grating 50 Lens unit 100, 200 Camera 311 Pan chassis 311a Tilt rotation support 311c Arm Parts 311e, 311f Opening 350 Tilt drive unit 351 Drive part 351a Vibrator 351b Piezoelectric element 351e Contact point 360 Tilt position detection unit 363 Optical sensor for tilt 363b Light emitter 363c Light receiver array

Claims (16)

An imaging device comprising an imaging unit, a base, and an arm erected from the base for supporting rotation of the imaging unit about a tilt axis,
a tilt rotary plate located on one side of the imaging unit and having a sliding surface;
a tilt drive unit for rotating the imaging unit about the tilt axis as a central axis;
with
The tilt drive unit is fixed to the arm,
a contact point that contacts the sliding surface; and a pressure member that presses the contact point against the sliding surface,
The arm is provided with an opening that opens so as to face the imaging unit,
The imaging device, wherein the contact point is arranged at the opening. The arms are a pair of arms,
2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said imaging unit is supported so as to be sandwiched between said pair of arms. further comprising a position detection unit that detects the rotational position of the imaging unit;
The position detection unit has a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit,
The other arm is provided with another opening,
The imaging unit has a reflecting unit arranged to face the other opening,
3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the position detection section is arranged in the other opening so as to face the reflection section. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein a distance from the center of rotation of said imaging unit to said contact point is equal to or less than a distance from the center of rotation of said imaging unit to a detection point where the rotational position is detected by said position detection unit. imaging device. the contact point is included in the transducer,
The contact point of the vibrator is arranged so as to enter the opening so as to be located inside the apparatus relative to the supporting portion that supports the imaging portion by rotating the arm portion around the tilt axis. 5. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that: 6. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the imaging section has a tilt axis section. 7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the opening is formed between the tilt shaft and the base in the arm. An imaging device comprising an imaging unit, a base, and an arm erected from the base for supporting rotation of the imaging unit about a tilt axis,
a tilt rotary plate located on one side of the imaging unit and having a sliding surface;
a tilt drive unit for rotating the imaging unit about the tilt axis as a central axis;
with
The tilt drive unit is fixed to the arm,
a contact point that contacts the sliding surface; and a pressure member that presses the contact point against the sliding surface,
The arm has a missing part formed by notching a part,
The imaging device, wherein the contact point is arranged at the missing portion. The arms are a pair of arms,
9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said imaging unit is supported so as to be sandwiched between said pair of arms. the contact point is included in the transducer,
The contact point of the vibrator is arranged so as to enter the missing portion so as to be located inside the device relative to the support portion that supports the imaging portion by rotating the arm portion around the tilt axis. 10. The imaging device according to claim 9, wherein: 11. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the imaging section has a tilt axis section. 12. The imaging apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the missing portion is formed between the tilt shaft portion and the base portion in the arm portion. 13. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein said contact point comprises a pair of protrusions. A mobile body equipped with an imaging device,
The imaging device comprises an imaging unit, a base, an arm erected from the base and supporting the imaging unit in rotation about a tilt axis, and positioned on one side of the imaging unit, a tilting rotary plate having a sliding surface; and a tilting drive unit for rotating the imaging unit around the tilting axis as a central axis,
The tilt drive unit is fixed to the arm and has a contact point that contacts the sliding surface and a pressurizing unit that presses the contact point against the sliding surface,
The arm is provided with an opening that opens so as to face the imaging unit,
The moving body, wherein the contact point is arranged at the opening. A mobile body equipped with an imaging device,
The imaging device comprises an imaging unit, a base, an arm erected from the base and supporting the imaging unit in rotation about a tilt axis, and positioned on one side of the imaging unit, a tilting rotary plate having a sliding surface; and a tilting drive unit for rotating the imaging unit around the tilting axis as a central axis,
The tilt drive unit is fixed to the arm and has a contact point that contacts the sliding surface and a pressurizing unit that presses the contact point against the sliding surface,
The arm has a missing part formed by notching a part,
The moving body, wherein the contact point is arranged at the missing portion. 16. The moving body according to claim 14, further comprising a flight mechanism, wherein the imaging device takes an image while the flight mechanism flies.

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