JP7632293B2 - Imaging device and control method - Google Patents

Description

This technology relates to the technical field of an imaging device in which the opening and closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring, and a control method for such an imaging device.

For example, some imaging devices, such as still cameras and video cameras, are equipped with a blade opening/closing device (shutter unit) having opening/closing blades that open and close an opening through which incident light passes on an imaging surface.
In this type of imaging device, a shutter unit (hereinafter referred to as a "hybrid shutter") is known in which opening and closing blades are driven by the torque of both a motor and a spring, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-233996.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 56-72424

In the hybrid shutter, the travel speed of the opening and closing blades (so-called curtain speed) can be increased, which is particularly advantageous in terms of increasing the strobe synchronization speed.
However, when the shutter speed becomes high, the impact caused by the movement of the opening and closing blades becomes large, which tends to reduce noise during shutter operation and shorten the life of the blade opening and closing device.

This technology was developed in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device in an imaging device in which the opening and closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring.

A first imaging device according to the present technology includes an opening/closing blade that travels in a direction to open and close an opening through which incident light on an imaging surface passes, a motor arranged to transmit travel power to the opening/closing blade, a travel spring arranged to transmit travel power to the opening/closing blade, and a control unit that controls the travel of the opening/closing blade, and the control unit switches between a plurality of travel modes having different power consumption of the motor as the travel mode of the opening/closing blade.
This makes it possible for an imaging device in which the opening and closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring to switch from a driving mode in which the motor consumes high power to a driving mode in which it consumes low power, i.e., from a driving mode in which the opening and closing blades run at a high speed to a driving mode in which they run at a low speed.

The first imaging device described above may be configured to include a capacitor that serves as a drive power source for the motor.
By providing the above-mentioned capacitor, it is possible to increase the drive voltage of the motor and increase the travel speed of the opening and closing blades. Furthermore, since the time required to charge the capacitor can be shortened in a travel motor with low power consumption, a mode with a high continuous shooting speed can be realized.

In the first imaging device described above, it is possible to configure the control unit to have a first driving mode and a second driving mode as driving modes with different power consumption, the first driving mode being a mode in which both the motor and the running spring transmit the running power, and the second driving mode being a mode in which the running spring transmits the running power and in which the power consumption of the motor is lower than that of the first driving mode.
This makes it possible to switch the running mode of the opening and closing blades between a hybrid running mode, in which the opening and closing blades are driven by the power of both the motor and the running spring, and a spring running mode, in which the opening and closing blades can be considered to be driven only by the running spring (including cases where the motor slightly assists in driving the opening and closing blades).

In the first imaging device described above, it is possible to configure the driving spring to be charged by the power of the motor, the control unit to have a first driving mode and a second driving mode as driving modes with different power consumption, and the second driving mode to be a mode in which the capacitor is charged fewer times than the first driving mode.
When the traveling spring is charged by the power of the motor, in order to enable the opening and closing blades to be driven by both the motor and the traveling spring, the capacitor needs to be charged twice, once to obtain the motor drive power for spring energy storage and once to obtain the motor drive power for driving the opening and closing blades. Therefore, in the above-mentioned first traveling mode, these two charges are performed to realize a traveling mode as a hybrid traveling mode, and in the second traveling mode, only the charging for spring energy storage is performed to realize a spring traveling mode in which the opening and closing blades are driven only by the traveling spring.

In the first imaging device described above, the control unit may be configured to select the travel mode based on any one of parameters including a travel speed of the opening/closing blades, a continuous shooting speed, and a shutter speed.
For example, when the travel speed of the opening and closing blades is increased, a mode with high motor power consumption should be selected, when the continuous shooting speed is increased, a mode with low motor power consumption (i.e., a mode with short charging time) should be selected, and when the shutter speed is increased, a mode with high motor power consumption should be selected.

In the first imaging apparatus described above, the control unit may be configured to select the driving mode based on a parameter of a shutter speed serving as a flash synchronization speed.
This makes it possible to improve the continuous shooting speed by selecting a driving mode with high motor power consumption when the strobe synchronization speed is a speed that cannot be achieved in a driving mode with low motor power consumption, and by selecting a driving mode with low motor power consumption when the strobe synchronization speed is a speed that can be achieved in a driving mode with low motor power consumption.

In the first imaging device described above, the control unit may be configured to have, as the driving modes, a first mode and a second mode in which the motor consumes less power than the first mode, and to select the second mode as the driving mode when there is no designation to increase the driving speed of the opening/closing blades to a predetermined speed or higher and a setting to automatically select a continuous shooting speed is made.
This makes it possible to select a driving mode with low motor power consumption (i.e., a mode with a short charging time) when the setting is made to automatically select the continuous shooting speed when it is presumed that the user does not intend to increase the opening/closing blade travel speed.

In the first imaging device described above, the control unit may be configured to have, as the driving modes, a first mode and a second mode in which the motor consumes less power than the first mode, and to select the first mode as the driving mode when there is no designation to increase the continuous shooting speed to a predetermined speed or higher and a setting to automatically select the driving speed of the opening and closing blades is made.
As a result, if the setting is made to automatically select the opening/closing blade travel speed when it is presumed that the user does not intend to increase the continuous shooting speed, it becomes possible to select a travel mode that consumes more motor power (i.e., a mode in which motor output is increased).

In the first imaging device described above, it is possible to configure the control unit to perform control for adjusting a charging time of the capacitor, as a control separate from the switching of the driving mode.
By adjusting the charging time of the capacitor, it is possible to change the time required from the start of a release until the next release can be started, i.e., it is possible to change the continuous shooting speed, and it is also possible to change the output of the motor, which makes it possible to change the running speed of the opening and closing blades.

In the first imaging device described above, the control unit may be configured to perform control to adjust the charging current of the capacitor based on the remaining charge of a battery that is an operating power source for the imaging device.
This makes it possible to increase the value of the charging current to increase the running speed of the opening and closing blades when the battery has a large remaining charge and sufficient power supply capacity, and to reduce the value of the charging current to prevent the battery output voltage from decreasing unnecessarily when the battery has a small remaining charge and does not have sufficient power supply capacity.

In the first imaging device described above, the control unit may be configured to perform control for adjusting a charging voltage of the capacitor.
By adjusting the charging voltage of the capacitor, the magnitude of the motor output, i.e., the travel speed of the opening and closing blades, is adjusted, and by adjusting the charging time of the capacitor, the continuous shooting speed is adjusted.

In the first imaging device described above, the control unit may be configured to perform control for adjusting a drive current of the motor.
By adjusting the drive current of the motor, the magnitude of the motor output, that is, the travel speed of the opening and closing blades, is adjusted, and by adjusting the charging time of the capacitor, the continuous shooting speed is adjusted.

In the first imaging device described above, it is possible to configure the capacitor so that it is charged even during the discharging period of the capacitor.
This shortens the waiting period until release can begin.

In addition, a first control method relating to the present technology is a control method for an imaging device that includes an opening/closing blade that travels in a direction to open and close an opening through which incident light on an imaging surface passes, a motor arranged to be able to transmit travel power to the opening/closing blade, a travel spring arranged to be able to transmit travel power to the opening/closing blade, and a control unit that controls the travel of the opening/closing blade, in which the control unit switches between a plurality of travel modes having different power consumptions of the motor as the travel mode of the opening/closing blade.
With this first control method as well, the same effect as with the first imaging device described above can be obtained.

In addition, a second imaging device related to the present technology includes an opening/closing blade that runs in an opening/closing direction that opens and closes an opening through which incident light on an imaging surface passes, a motor arranged to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, a running spring arranged to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, and a control unit that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, and the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes having different running speeds for the opening/closing blade as the running mode of the opening/closing blade.
This makes it possible to switch from a running mode in which the opening/closing blades travel at a high speed to a running mode in which the opening/closing blades travel at a low speed in an imaging device in which the opening/closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring.

A second control method according to the present technology is a control method for an imaging device including an opening/closing blade that runs in an opening/closing direction that opens and closes an opening through which incident light on an imaging surface passes, a motor arranged to be able to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, a running spring arranged to be able to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, and a control unit that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, in which the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes having different running speeds for the opening/closing blade as the running mode of the opening/closing blade.
With this second control method as well, the same effect as with the second imaging device described above can be obtained.

Also, a third imaging device relating to the present technology includes an opening/closing blade that moves in an opening/closing direction to open and close an aperture, a motor having a coil to which a drive current is supplied, a magnet that rotates as current is passed through the coil, and a rotor gear that rotates as the magnet rotates, a driver that has a drive gear that meshes with the rotor gear and rotates synchronously with the magnet in the opposite direction, and a running spring that imparts a biasing force in one direction in the opening/closing direction to the opening/closing blade via the driver, and the opening/closing blade is operated in the opening/closing direction as the driver rotates, and a control unit that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, and the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes having different power consumptions of the motor as the running mode of the opening/closing blade.
In the blade opening/closing unit having the above configuration, the opening/closing blades can be moved by the driving force of the motor generated by energizing the coil and the biasing force of the traveling spring in the driving body. Also, the above control unit enables the imaging device capable of driving the opening/closing blades by both the motor and the spring to switch from a traveling mode with high motor power consumption to a traveling mode with low motor power consumption, i.e., from a traveling mode with a high traveling speed of the opening/closing blades to a traveling mode with a low traveling speed.

Furthermore, a fourth imaging device related to the present technology includes an opening/closing blade that moves in an opening/closing direction to open and close an aperture, a motor having a coil to which a drive current is supplied, a magnet that rotates as current is passed through the coil, and a rotor gear that rotates as the magnet rotates, a driver that has a drive gear that meshes with the rotor gear and rotates synchronously with the magnet in the opposite direction, and a running spring that applies a biasing force in one direction in the opening/closing direction to the opening/closing blade via the driver, and the opening/closing blade is operated in the opening/closing direction as the driver rotates, and a control unit that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, and the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes having different running speeds for the opening/closing blade as the running mode of the opening/closing blade.
In the blade opening/closing unit having the above configuration, the opening/closing blades can be caused to travel by the driving force of the motor generated by energizing the coil and the biasing force of the travel spring in the driver. Also, the above control unit makes it possible to switch from a travel mode in which the opening/closing blades travel at a high speed to a travel mode in which the opening/closing blades travel at a low speed for an imaging device in which the opening/closing blades can be driven by both the motor and the spring.

1 is a perspective view of an imaging device according to an embodiment of the present technology. 2 is a perspective view showing the imaging device as viewed from a different direction than in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the imaging device. FIG. FIG. 11 is a front view showing a state in which the opening/closing blades are held in an open position. FIG. 11 is a front view showing a state in which the opening/closing blades are held in a closed position. FIG. FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a drive mechanism and the like as viewed from a different direction than that shown in FIG. 8 . FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a magnet, a gear body, and a driving body. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing the magnet, the gear body, and the driver as viewed from a different direction than in FIG. 10 . FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a lock operation unit. 13 is an enlarged perspective view showing the lock operation unit as viewed from a different direction than in FIG. 12 . 15 to 18 show the operation of the blade opening and closing device, and this figure is a rear view showing the initial state of the drive mechanism. 13 is a rear view showing the state of the drive mechanism immediately after the closing operation of the opening/closing blades is started. FIG. 16 is a rear view showing a state in which the opening/closing blades are closing after the state shown in FIG. 15 and the connecting shaft of the driver is in contact with the brake lever. 17 is a rear view showing a state in which the closing operation of the opening/closing blades is performed subsequent to FIG. 16, the drive body is decelerated by the brake lever, and the lock release body is pressed by the pressing shaft of the brake lever. FIG. 13 is a rear view showing the state of the drive mechanism when the opening/closing blades are opening. FIG. FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing a locking operation unit according to a modified example. 20 is an enlarged perspective view showing a lock operation unit according to a modified example, as viewed from a different direction than that shown in FIG. 19 . 22 to 26 show the operation of a blade opening and closing device in which a locking operation unit according to a modified example is used, and this figure is a rear view showing the initial state of the drive mechanism. 13 is a rear view showing the state of the drive mechanism immediately after the closing operation of the opening/closing blades is started. FIG. 23 is a rear view showing a state in which the opening/closing blades are closing after the state shown in FIG. 22 and the connecting shaft of the driver is in contact with the brake lever. 24 is a rear view showing a state in which the closing operation of the opening/closing blades is performed subsequent to FIG. 23, the drive body is decelerated by the brake lever, and the release arm is pressed by the pressing shaft of the brake lever. FIG. FIG. 25 is a rear view showing the state in which the release arm and the holding lever have been rotated to the lock holding position, subsequent to FIG. 24 . 13 is a rear view showing the state of the drive mechanism when the opening/closing blades are opening. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an electrical internal configuration of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment; 2 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of a drive system of a magnetic drive unit (motor) in the present embodiment. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation in each driving mode. 11 is a flowchart showing a process for switching a running mode according to a strobe synchronization speed. 13 is a diagram for explaining the definitions of Hi/Low of the shutter speed, curtain speed, and frame speed in control example I. FIG. 13 shows a combination of shutter speed, curtain speed, and frame speed settings in control example I. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a process as a control example I. 13 is a flowchart for explaining a process as control example I. 13 is a flowchart for explaining a process as control example I. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of a drive system of a magnetic drive unit in an imaging device as a first modified example. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an image of adjustment in a first modified example. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an image of adjustment as a second modified example. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of a drive system of a magnetic drive unit in an imaging device as a second modified example. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between curtain speed and frame speed in a second modified example. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an image of adjustment as a third modified example. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of a drive system of a magnetic drive unit 27 in an imaging device 1 as a third modified example. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an image of a fourth modified example. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of a drive system of a magnetic drive unit in an imaging device as a fourth modified example.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present technology will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The explanation will be given in the following order.
<1. Mechanical configuration>
[1-1. Overview of imaging device]
[1-2. Configuration of the blade opening and closing device]
[1-3. Operation of the blade opening and closing device]
[1-4. Summary]
[1-5. Modifications]
[1-6. Operation of the blade opening and closing device using the lock operation unit according to the modified example]
2. Electrical configuration
[2-1. Electrical configuration example of imaging device]
[2-2. About driving modes]
[2-3. Control Example I]
[2-4. Control Example II]
[2-5. First modified example]
[2-6. Second modified example]
[2-7. Third modified example]
[2-8. Fourth modified example]
[2-9. About "imaging"]
3. Summary of the embodiment
<4. This Technology>

In the embodiment described below, an imaging device according to the present technology is applied to a still camera, and a blade opening/closing device (blade opening/closing unit) according to the present technology is applied to a focal plane shutter provided in the still camera.
In particular, in this embodiment, the imaging device is a digital camera equipped with an imaging element, and the focal plane shutter is an example in which the travel of the front curtain is implemented as an electronic front curtain that is realized by resetting the charge of the imaging element, and the travel of the rear curtain is realized by the travel of opening and closing blades.

The scope of application of this technology is not limited to still cameras and focal plane shutters installed in still cameras, but can be widely applied to, for example, various imaging devices incorporated into video cameras and other equipment, and various blade opening and closing devices such as irises installed in these imaging devices.

In the following explanation, the directions of front, back, up, down, left and right are indicated from the perspective of the user who is taking pictures using a still camera. Therefore, the subject side is the front and the user side is the rear.

Note that the front-back, up-down, left-right directions shown below are for convenience of explanation, and the implementation of this technology is not limited to these directions.

Furthermore, the lens groups described below may be constituted by one or more lenses, or may include one or more lenses and other optical elements such as an iris.

<1. Mechanical configuration>
[1-1. Overview of imaging device]

First, the schematic configuration of the imaging device will be described (see FIGS. 1 to 3).
1 and 2, the imaging device 1 is configured by, for example, disposing required parts inside and outside a horizontally long, flat housing 2. The imaging device 1 may be a device to which an interchangeable lens 200 can be attached and detached, as shown in FIG.

A flash (strobe) 3 is provided on the front of the housing 2. A shutter button 4, a zoom switch 5, and a power button 6 are provided on the top of the housing 2 (see Figures 1 and 2). A display 7, various operation sections 8, 8, ..., and a viewfinder 9 are provided on the rear of the housing 2.

As shown in FIG. 3 , inside the housing 2, there are arranged from the front side an optical system 10 having a group of lenses and optical elements, a blade opening/closing device (blade opening/closing unit: in this example, a focal plane shutter) 11 that controls the amount of light taken in by the optical system 10, specifically, that can block light incident on the imaging surface of the image sensor 12, and the image sensor 12 that performs photoelectric conversion on the light taken in via the blade opening/closing device 11.

[1-2. Configuration of the blade opening and closing device]

The configuration of the blade opening and closing device 11 will be described below (see Figs. 4 to 13).
The blade opening/closing device 11 has a base body 13, a pressing plate 14, opening/closing blades 15, links 16, 16, and a drive mechanism 17, and is disposed in front of the imaging element 12 (see FIGS. 4 to 6).

The base body 13 is formed, for example, in a horizontally long rectangular shape, and has a rectangular opening 13a that penetrates from front to back (see Figures 4 and 5). The opening 13a is slightly larger than the effective light incidence area on the imaging surface of the imaging element 12. The effective light incidence area on the imaging surface is the area into which the light necessary to be captured by the optical system 10 and generate an image is incident.

A portion below the opening 13a in the base body 13 is provided as a holding portion 18 that serves as a holding area in which the opening/closing blade 15 is held in the open position, and one side portion of the opening 13a in the base body 13 is provided as an attachment portion 19. The image sensor 12 is disposed on the rear side of the base body 13.

Support pins 19a, 19a protruding forward are provided at the lateral ends of the mounting portion 19, spaced apart from one another above and below. A shaft movement hole 19b is formed in the mounting portion 19, and the shaft movement hole 19b is formed in a substantially arcuate shape.

The pressure plate 14 is formed to be approximately the same size and shape as the base body 13, and has a through hole 14a. The pressure plate 14 is attached to the base body 13 from the front side with the opening/closing blade 15 sandwiched between them. When the pressure plate 14 is attached to the base body 13, the opening 13a is positioned directly behind the through hole 14a.

The pressure plate 14 has an escape hole 14b formed therein, which is formed in an arc shape.

The opening and closing blades 15 are composed of a plurality of sheet-like sectors 15a, 15a, ... (see FIG. 5). In the blade opening and closing device 11 that functions as a focal plane shutter, for example, a so-called electronic front curtain shutter is configured by combining an electronic curtain that functions as a front curtain by controlling the image sensor 12 and the opening and closing blades 15 that are provided as a mechanical structure and function as a rear curtain.

The sectors 15a, 15a, ... are formed in a horizontally elongated shape, and for example, four sectors are provided. The opening and closing blade 15 is positioned such that at least a portion of the sectors 15a, 15a, ... overlap each other in the thickness direction. The sectors 15a, 15a, ... are rotatably connected to both links 16, 16, respectively.

The links 16, 16 are formed in a sheet shape and function as parallel links. Support holes 16a, 16a are formed in the links 16, 16 at one end in the longitudinal direction. One of the links 16 has an elongated connecting hole 16b formed in a portion near one end in the longitudinal direction. Support pins 19a, 19a of the base body 13 are inserted into the support holes 16a, 16a of the links 16, 16, and the links 16, 16 are rotated relative to the base plate 13 and the pressing plate 14 with the support pins 19a, 19a as fulcrums.

The links 16, 16 are rotated relative to the base plate 13 and the presser plate 14 while remaining parallel to each other by the driving force of the drive mechanism 17. When the links 16, 16 are rotated, the sectors 15a, 15a, ... move (run) in a substantially vertical direction. At this time, the sectors 15a, 15a, ... move by different amounts, changing the overlapping area, and opening and closing between an open position (see FIG. 6) that opens the opening 13a of the base body 13 and a closed position (see FIG. 7) that closes the opening 13a.

When the opening/closing blade 15 is moved as described above, the overlapping area of the sectors 15a, 15a, ... changes depending on the position to which they are moved, and the area is smallest in the open position.

Therefore, since the space required for arranging the opening/closing blades 15 is small in the open position and the area of the opening/closing blades 15 is largest in the closed position, the blade opening/closing device 11 can be made smaller in the direction of movement of the opening/closing blades 15 and a sufficiently large opening 13a can be formed.

In addition, sheets (not shown) having light-transmitting holes positioned corresponding to the openings 13a are arranged between the opening/closing blade 15 and the front surface of the base body 13, and between the opening/closing blade 15 and the rear surface of the pressure plate 14, and these sheets facilitate the operation of the opening/closing blade 15.

The drive mechanism 17 is constructed by arranging the required parts on an arrangement base 20 (see Figures 5, 8 and 9).

The placement base 20 is formed as a long plate facing the front-rear direction. An axial operating hole 20a is formed near the bottom end of the placement base 20 (see Figures 8 and 9). The placement base 20 is attached to the mounting portion 19 of the base body 13 from the rear.

A spring support shaft 21, a rotor shaft 22, a drive shaft 23, and a lock shaft 24 are attached to the arrangement base 20. The spring support shaft 21, the rotor shaft 22, the drive shaft 23, and the lock shaft 24 each protrude rearward from the arrangement base 20. A brake support shaft 25 and a stopper 26 are attached to the rear surface of the arrangement base 20, and the brake support shaft 25 and the stopper 26 are positioned around the shaft operation hole 20a.

The drive mechanism 17 is provided with a magnetic drive unit (motor) 27. The magnetic drive unit 27 has a mounting plate 28, a first yoke 29, a second yoke 30, a coil 31, and a magnet 32.

The mounting plate 28 is oriented in the front-to-rear direction, and a first yoke 29 and a second yoke 30 are attached to the mounting plate 28.

The first yoke 29 has a magnet arrangement hole 29a that penetrates from front to back. The first yoke 29 is attached to the upper half of the rear surface of the arrangement base 20. The second yoke 30 has a base 30a formed in a plate shape facing the vertical direction and a core 30b that protrudes downward from the base 30a, with the base 30a being positioned above the first yoke 29. The coil 31 is arranged in a wound state around the core 30b and functions as a stator.

The magnet 32 functions as a rotor and is formed in a cylindrical shape with its axial direction in the front-to-rear direction (see Figures 10 and 11). A rotor gear 33 is attached to one end face in the axial direction of the magnet 32. The magnet 32 and the rotor gear 33 are supported by the rotor shaft 22 and can rotate together with the rotor shaft 22 as a fulcrum. The magnet 32 is inserted into the magnet arrangement hole 29a and arranged when the first yoke 29 is attached to the arrangement base 20.

In the magnetic drive unit 27 configured as described above, when a current is supplied to the coil 31, the magnet 32 and the rotor gear 33 rotate together in a direction corresponding to the direction (polarity) of the current. The magnet 32 and the rotor gear 33 rotate in synchronization with the drive body 34.

The drive body 34 has a drive gear 35, a drive lever 36, and a supported shaft portion 37 and is rotatable.

The drive gear 35 is a spur gear. The drive gear 35 has a spring hook portion 35a that protrudes rearward from a portion of the outer periphery.

The drive lever 36 is formed in a plate shape of a predetermined shape, and has a connecting base 36a extending in one direction and a protrusion 36b protruding from the center of the connecting base 36a in the longitudinal direction. A through hole (not shown) is formed in one end of the connecting base 36a in the longitudinal direction. The protrusion 36b protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the connecting base 36a. A connecting shaft 38 protruding forward is attached to the other end of the connecting base 36a in the longitudinal direction. A return shaft 39 protruding forward is attached to the protrusion 36b. A notch is formed in the other end of the connecting base 36a in the longitudinal direction, and this notch forms the locked portion 36c. The edge of the connecting base 36a on the side of the locked portion 36c is formed as a sliding inclined edge 36d.

One end of the coupling base 36a of the drive lever 36 is coupled to the rear surface of the drive gear 35, and the through hole is aligned with the center hole of the drive gear 35. When the coupling base 36a is coupled to the drive gear 35, the connecting shaft 38 and the return shaft 39 are positioned on the outer periphery of the drive gear 35.

The supported shaft portion 37 has a cylindrical portion 37a formed in a cylindrical shape with an axial direction in the front-to-rear direction and a flange portion 37b extending outward from one end of the cylindrical portion 37a in the axial direction. The supported shaft portion 37 has the flange portion 37b connected to one end of the connecting base 36a and is positioned coaxially with the drive gear 35.

The driving body 34 is biased in one direction in the rotational direction by a running spring 40. The running spring 40 is, for example, a torsion coil spring, and is supported by the cylindrical portion 37a of the supported shaft portion 37. One end of the running spring 40 is engaged with, for example, a part of the mounting plate 28 in the magnetic driving portion 27, and the other end is engaged with the spring hook portion 35a of the driving gear 35.

The driver 34 is supported by the drive shaft 23 and is rotatable around the drive shaft 23. The driver 34 is biased in one rotation direction by the running spring 40, and the drive gear 35, drive lever 36, and supported shaft portion 37 are integrated and can be rotated in one rotation direction by the biasing force (driving force) of the running spring 40. The driver 34 is rotated between a first rotation end, which is a rotation end in a direction opposite to the biasing force of the running spring 40, and a second rotation end, which is a rotation end in the direction of the biasing force of the running spring 40.

The drive gear 35 of the drive body 34 configured as described above is meshed with the rotor gear 33 of the magnetic drive unit 27. Therefore, the rotor 32 and rotor gear 33 of the magnetic drive unit 27 are rotated synchronously in the opposite direction to the drive body 34.

When the driver 34 is supported by the drive shaft 23, the connecting shaft 38 attached to the drive lever 36 protrudes forward from the axial operating hole 20a of the positioning base 20.

The drive mechanism 17 is provided with a lock operation unit 41 (see Figures 8 and 9). The lock operation unit 41 has an unlocking body 42 and a locking member 43 (see Figures 12 and 13).

The unlocking body 42 has an unlocking base 44 and an adsorption piece 45, and is rotatable between a lock holding position and an unlocked position.

The release base 44 has a plate-shaped base surface portion 46 facing approximately in the vertical direction, a first support surface portion 47 bent upward relative to the base surface portion 46, and a second support surface portion 48 bent upward relative to the base surface portion 46, with the first support surface portion 47 and the second support surface portion 48 positioned opposite each other in the front and rear, and the first support surface portion 47 being positioned behind the second support surface portion 48.

A part of the first support surface portion 47 is provided as a first spring receiving portion 47a protruding laterally from the base surface portion 46, and a part of the second support surface portion 48 is provided as a second spring receiving portion 48a protruding laterally from the base surface portion 46, with the first spring receiving portion 47a and the second spring receiving portion 48a positioned opposite each other in the front and rear. Another part of the second support surface portion 48 protrudes from the base surface portion 46 in the opposite direction to the second spring receiving portion 48a on the side, and this protruding portion is provided as a release receiving portion 48b. The first support surface portion 47 is provided with a restricting protrusion 48c protruding downward from the release receiving portion 48b.

An approximately cylindrical first spring support member 49 and a second spring support member 50 are attached to the first spring support portion 47a and the second spring support portion 48a, respectively.

An unlocking spring 51 is supported on the first spring support member 49. The unlocking spring 51 is, for example, a torsion coil spring, one end of which is engaged with the spring support shaft 21 attached to the placement base 20 and the other end of which is engaged with the first support surface portion 47.

The suction piece 45 is made of a magnetic metal material and is fixed to the base surface portion 46 of the release base 44 via a fixed shaft 52. The suction piece 45 is located on the upper surface side of one end of the base surface portion 46 in the left-right direction.

The locking member 43 has a supported plate portion 53 positioned opposite the second support surface portion 48 on the front side of the release base 44, and a pressed plate portion 54 positioned perpendicular to the supported plate portion 53 and opposite the front end portion of the base surface portion 46 on the lower side of the release base 44. A shaft insertion hole 53a is formed in the supported plate portion 53, penetrating from front to rear. A locking portion 53b is provided on the supported plate portion 53, protruding downward. The locking member 43 is rotatable between a locked position and an unlocked position.

A lock spring 55 is supported on the second spring support member 50. The spring force of the lock spring 55 is set smaller than the spring force of the unlocking spring 51. The lock spring 55 is, for example, a torsion coil spring, one end of which is engaged with the second support surface portion 48 of the unlocking base 44 and the other end of which is engaged with the supported plate portion 53 of the locking member 43.

The lock operation unit 41 is supported by the lock shaft 24 attached to the placement base 20 by inserting the lock shaft 24 into the shaft insertion hole 53a of the lock member 43, the first spring support member 49, and the second spring support member 50, and the lock release body 42 and the lock member 43 are each capable of rotating independently with the lock shaft 24 as a fulcrum.

When the lock operation unit 41 is allowed to rotate around the lock shaft 24 as a fulcrum, the unlocking body 42 is urged by the unlocking spring 51 in a direction in which the base surface portion 46 approaches the pressed portion plate 54 of the locking member 43, and the locking member 43 is urged by the locking spring 55 in a direction in which the pressed portion plate 54 approaches the base surface portion 46. Therefore, the urging directions of the unlocking spring 51 and the locking spring 55 are opposite in the rotation direction of the lock operation unit 41, and when no force other than the urging force is applied to the unlocking body 42 and the locking member 43 in the rotation direction, the pressed portion 54 of the locking member 43 is pressed against the restricting protrusion 48c of the unlocking body 42.

The lock release body 42 has an attraction piece 45 that can be attracted to an electromagnet 56. The electromagnet 56 has a bifurcated magnetic force generating section 57 and a pair of coil sections 58, 58. The magnetic force generating section 57 is provided as a pair of attraction sections 57a, 57a with the bifurcated sections aligned front to back, and the coil sections 58, 58 are wound around the attraction sections 57a, 57a, respectively.

The electromagnet 56 is attached, for example, to the mounting plate 28. The unlocking body 42 is positioned such that the tip surfaces of the suction portions 57a, 57a face the upper surface of the suction piece 45. When electricity is applied to the coil portions 58, 58 of the electromagnet 56, the suction force on the suction piece 45 disappears, and when electricity is stopped from being applied to the coil portions 58, 58, the suction force on the suction piece 45 is generated.

The drive mechanism 17 is provided with a brake lever 59 (see Figures 8 and 9). The brake lever 59 is formed in a substantially V-shape and is rotatable around a brake support shaft 25 attached to the placement base 20 as a fulcrum. The brake lever 59 is rotated between a deceleration start position where the drive body 34 starts to decelerate and a rotation stop position where the rotation is stopped.

The V-shaped bent portion of the brake lever 59 is supported by the brake support shaft 25. The brake lever 59 has a portion that extends in one direction from the portion supported by the brake support shaft 25 provided as a brake arm 60, and a portion that extends in the other direction from the portion supported by the brake support shaft 28 provided as an action arm 61. A pressure shaft 62 is supported at the tip of the action arm 61, for example, rotatably.

The brake lever 59 is supported by a support pin 64 via a pressure spring 63 on the brake support shaft 25. Therefore, the brake lever 59 is supported by the pressure spring 63 with a constant load applied to the arrangement base 20, and is rotated relative to the arrangement base 20 when a rotational force larger than the frictional force between the brake lever 59 and the arrangement base 20 generated by the pressure spring 63 is applied.

With the driver 34, locking unit 41, and brake lever 59 supported rotatably relative to the arrangement base 20 as described above, the first yoke 29 and second yoke 30 of the magnetic drive unit 27 are attached to the upper half of the arrangement base 20. At this time, as described above, the magnet 32 is inserted into the magnet arrangement hole 29a of the first yoke 29, and the connecting shaft 38 and return shaft 39 attached to the drive lever 36 protrude forward from the shaft operation hole 20a of the arrangement base 20 (see FIG. 5).

As described above, the arrangement base 20 is attached to the mounting portion 19 of the base body 13 from the rear, and the connecting shaft 38 protrudes forward from the shaft movement hole 19b of the base body 13 and is inserted into the relief hole 14b of the pressing plate 14. The connecting shaft 38 is inserted into the connecting hole 16b formed in one of the links 16. Therefore, when the driver 34 is rotated, the connecting shaft 38 is moved, and the links 16, 16 are rotated while maintaining their parallel state, and the sectors 15a, 15a, ... are moved substantially in the vertical direction in accordance with the rotation of the driver 34.

[1-3. Operation of the blade opening and closing device]

The operation of the blade opening and closing device 11 will be described below (see Figs. 14 to 18).

First, we will explain the initial state of each part of the drive mechanism 17 (see Figure 14).

In the initial state before the power button 6 of the imaging device 1 is operated, no current is flowing through the coil 31, no driving force is generated in the magnetic drive unit 27, and the rotation of the magnet 32 is stopped.

In the initial state, no current is applied to the electromagnet 56, and magnetic force is generated in the magnetic force generating unit 57. Therefore, the magnetic force generating unit 57 attracts the attraction piece 45, and the attraction piece 45 is attracted by the attraction units 57a, 57a. Therefore, the unlocking body 42 is held in the lock holding position.

At this time, the locking member 43 is applied with a biasing force by the locking spring 55 in a direction in which the pressed portion plate 54 approaches the base surface portion 46, and the pressed portion plate 54 is pressed against the regulating protrusion 48c of the lock release body 42, thereby holding the locking member 43 in the locked position.

When the locking member 43 is held in the locked position, the locked portion 36c of the driving lever 36 in the driving body 34 is engaged with the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43, and the driving body 34 is held at the first rotation end in a locked state with its rotation restricted against the biasing force of the running spring 40. Therefore, the driving force generated by the biasing force of the running spring 40 is not transmitted from the driving body 34 to the opening/closing blade 15, and for example, the opening/closing blade 15 is held in the open position.

At this time, the image sensor 12 is in a state (non-exposed state) where no exposure operation (charge accumulation) is being performed by the electronic curtain (front curtain).

In the initial state, the brake lever 59 is held in the deceleration start position, the brake arm 60 is separated from the connecting shaft 38 attached to the drive lever 36 of the drive body 34, and the pressure shaft 62 attached to the action arm 61 is separated from the release receiving portion 48b of the second support surface portion 48 in the release base 44.

In the initial state described above, when the electromagnet 56 is energized, the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing blade 15 is started (see FIG. 15). Note that when the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing blade 15 is started, the control of the electronic curtain (travel of the electronic curtain) has already started.

In addition, in the imaging device 1, it is possible to operate the opening/closing blade 15 by both the driving force of the magnetic drive unit 27 and the driving force of the running spring 40, and it is also possible to operate the opening/closing blade 15 only by the driving force of the running spring 40. Below, an example is described in which the opening/closing blade 15 is rotated from the open position to the closed position by both the driving force of the magnetic drive unit 27 and the driving force of the running spring 40. In addition, the movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the closed position to the open position is performed by the driving force of the magnetic drive unit 27.

When the electromagnet 56 is energized, the opening/closing blade 15 starts to move from the open position to the closed position. When the opening/closing blade 15 moves from the open position to the closed position, the electronic curtain is controlled according to the movement speed of the opening/closing blade 15 in a state where a slit is formed between the electronic curtain and the opening/closing blade 15, and light is incident on the image sensor 12 through the formed slit, thereby performing exposure.
Depending on the setting of the shutter speed (exposure time), the traveling operations of the electronic curtain and the opening/closing blades 15 may be controlled so that the traveling of the opening/closing blades 15 begins after the traveling of the electronic curtain has ended (that is, so that a period is obtained in which the opening 13a is in a fully open state, with neither the front nor rear curtain blocking the opening).

When the electromagnet 56 is energized, the magnetic force generated in the magnetic force generating unit 57 disappears, and the attraction of the attraction pieces 45 by the attraction units 57a, 57a is released. Therefore, the unlocking body 42 is rotated from the lock holding position to the unlocking position by the biasing force of the unlocking spring 51.

When the unlocking body 42 is rotated from the lock holding position to the unlocking position, the restricting protrusion 48c of the unlocking body 42 presses the pressed plate portion 54 of the locking member 43, and the engagement between the locked portion 36c of the driver 34 and the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43 is released. Therefore, the locking member 43 is rotated from the locked position to the unlocked position together with the unlocking body 42 against the biasing force of the locking spring 55.

When the unlocking body 42 is rotated toward the unlocked position, a portion of it comes into contact with a rotation restriction portion (not shown) attached to the placement base 20 or formed on the placement base 20, causing the rotation to stop and the body to be held in the unlocked position. At the same time, the locking member 43, which has been rotated integrally with the unlocking body 42 toward the unlocked position, has its rotation stopped along with the unlocking body 42 and is held in the unlocked position.

On the other hand, when the engagement between the locked portion 36c of the driver 34 and the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43 is released, the driver 34 is rotated from the first rotation end to the second rotation end by the biasing force of the running spring 40, and the driving force generated by the biasing force of the running spring 40 is transmitted to the opening/closing blade 15 via the driver 34, and the opening/closing blade 15 is moved from the open position to the closed position in conjunction with the rotation of the driver 34.

At this time, the electromagnet 56 is energized and at the same time the coil 31 of the magnetic drive unit 27 is energized, the magnet 32 functioning as a rotor and the rotor gear 33 are rotated integrally in the opposite direction to the drive body 34, and the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27 is transmitted from the rotor gear 33 via the drive body 34 to the opening/closing blade 15. Therefore, the opening/closing blade 15 is operated by both the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27 and the driving force generated by the biasing force of the running spring 40, and is moved at high speed from the open position to the closed position.

Next, current is applied to the coil 31, and the opening/closing blade 15 is further moved toward the closed position (see Figure 16).

The magnetic drive unit 27 and the drive body 34 continue to rotate in the opposite direction in synchronization, and the drive body 34 is further rotated toward the second rotation end by the biasing force of the running spring 40. The drive body 34 further rotated toward the second rotation end contacts the brake arm 60 of the brake lever 59, whose connecting shaft 38 attached to the drive lever 36 is held at the deceleration start position, and the brake lever 59 is pressed against the connecting shaft 38 and rotated from the deceleration start position toward the rotation stop position against the friction force. Therefore, the rotation speed of the drive body 34 is gradually reduced by the brake lever 59 as it approaches the second rotation end, and the operating speed of the opening and closing blades 15 is also gradually reduced as it approaches the closed position.

At this time, the rotation of the brake lever 59 causes the pressing shaft 62 to come into contact with the release receiving portion 48b of the lock release body 42. When the pressing shaft 62 of the brake lever 59 comes into contact with the release receiving portion 48b of the lock release body 42, the current to the electromagnet 56 is stopped. Therefore, magnetic force is generated in the magnetic force generating unit 57 again.

Furthermore, the magnetic drive unit 27 and the drive body 34 are rotated in opposite directions in synchronization, the brake lever 59 is pressed against the connecting shaft 38 and continues to rotate, and the brake arm 60 comes into contact with the stopper 26 attached to the placement base 20, stopping the rotation of the brake lever 59 (see Figure 17).

The brake lever 59 is held in a rotation stop position by contacting the stopper 26, and as the brake lever 59 stops rotating, the rotation of the driver 34, magnet 32, and rotor gear 33 is stopped, and the driver 34 is held at the second rotation end. At this time, the current to the coil 31 of the magnetic drive unit 27 is stopped.

When the brake lever 59 is pressed against the connecting shaft 38 and rotated, the pressing shaft 62 of the brake lever 59 presses the release receiving portion 48b of the lock release body 42, and the lock release body 42 rotates from the unlocked position to the locked position against the biasing force of the lock release spring 51. At this time, the lock member 43 is subjected to the biasing force of the lock spring 55, so the lock member 43 rotates integrally with the lock release body 42 from the unlocked position to the locked position.

In the above, an example has been shown in which current is stopped flowing to the electromagnet 56 when the pressure shaft 62 of the brake lever 59 comes into contact with the release receiving portion 48b of the lock release body 42, but current may also be stopped flowing to the electromagnet 56 when the brake lever 59 is rotated to the rotation stop position and the driver 34 is rotated to the second rotation end.

When the driver 34 is held at the second rotation end as described above, the opening/closing blade 15, which is operated in conjunction with the rotation of the driver 34, reaches the closed position, completing the operation of the opening/closing blade 15 from the open position to the closed position, and the opening 13a of the base body 13 is closed.

At this time, the electromagnet 56 is de-energized and a magnetic force is generated in the magnetic force generating unit 57. Therefore, the magnetic force generating unit 57 attracts the attraction piece 45, and the attraction pieces 45 are attracted by the attraction units 57a, 57a, the unlocking body 42 is rotated to the lock holding position and returns to the initial state, and the locking member 43 is rotated to the lock position and returns to the initial state.

When the movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the open position to the closed position is completed, the movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the closed position to the open position is then started. When the movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the closed position to the open position is started, the image sensor 12 is put into the non-exposed state described above by the electronic screen.

The movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the closed position to the open position is initiated by passing current through the coil 31 of the magnetic drive unit 27 in the opposite direction (current passing with reverse polarity) (see Figure 18).

When electricity is applied to the coil 31 in the opposite direction, the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27 is transmitted from the rotor gear 33 to the drive body 34, causing the drive body 34 to rotate from the second rotation end to the first rotation end against the biasing force of the running spring 40 and return to its initial state, and the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27 is transmitted from the rotor gear 33 via the drive body 34 to the opening/closing blade 15, causing the opening/closing blade 15 to move from the closed position to the open position.

As described above, when the driver 34 is rotated from the second rotation end to the first rotation end, the running spring 40, which acts as a torsion coil spring, is wound up, increasing the biasing force on the driver 34. That is, the running spring 40 is wound up and stored with the power of the magnetic drive unit 27 (i.e., the power is charged).

When the driver 34 is rotated from the second rotation end to the first rotation end, the connecting shaft 38 of the driver 34 is separated from the brake arm 60, but the return shaft 39 of the driver 34 contacts the brake arm 60 from the opposite direction to the contact direction of the connecting shaft 38, and the brake lever 59 is rotated from the rotation stop position to the deceleration start position by the return shaft 39 and returns to the initial state. By rotating the brake lever 59 from the rotation stop position toward the deceleration start position, the pressing shaft 62 is separated from the release receiving portion 48b of the release base 44.

When the driver 34 is rotated from the second rotation end to the first rotation end, the locking member 43 is rotated from the unlocked position to the locked position, and the sliding inclined edge 36d of the driver lever 36 slides on the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43, and the locking member 43 is rotated against the biasing force of the locking spring 55. When the driver 34 is further rotated to the first rotation end, the sliding inclined edge 36d overcomes the locking portion 53b, and the locking member 43 is rotated by the biasing force of the locking spring 55, and the locked portion 36c engages with the locking portion 53b, and the driver 34 is restricted from rotating against the biasing force of the running spring 40, is held in a locked state, and is returned to the initial state.

When the driver 34 is held at the first rotation end and returns to its initial state, the flow of current in the opposite direction to the coil 31 is stopped, and the magnetic driver 27 is placed in a state where it is not generating a driving force on the opening/closing blade 15.

As described above, the imaging device 1 is configured as a so-called electronic front-curtain shutter, which is a combination of an electronic curtain that functions as a front curtain and an opening/closing blade 15 that is provided as a mechanical structure and functions as a rear curtain.

Some imaging devices use electronic shutters that operate both the first and second curtains electronically; in this case, the first curtain is operated by clearing (resetting) the charge, and the second curtain is operated by continuous readout. However, since electronic shutters are limited by the readout speed of the sensor, there is a risk of a defect known as rolling shutter distortion, in which images of moving subjects are distorted. On the other hand, some imaging devices use shutters that operate both the first and second curtains mechanically; in this case, drive mechanisms for both the first and second curtains are required, which may result in an increase in the size of the imaging device and the number of parts.

Therefore, by configuring an electronic front-curtain shutter by combining an electronic curtain and opening/closing blades 15 as in the imaging device 1, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of rolling shutter distortion while preventing the imaging device 1 from becoming larger or the number of parts from increasing.

Although the above shows an example in which the opening/closing blade 15 is moved from the open position to the closed position by the driving force of both the magnetic driving unit 27 and the running spring 40, it is also possible to move the opening/closing blade 15 from the open position to the closed position only by the driving force generated by the biasing force of the running spring 40 without passing current through the coil 31.

In this case, the running speed of the opening/closing blade 15 is slower than when the opening/closing blade 15 is operated by both the driving force of the magnetic drive unit 27 and the driving force of the running spring 40, but since no current is passed through the coil 31, power consumption can be reduced.

[1-4. Summary]

As described above, the imaging device 1 and the blade opening/closing device 11 include a magnetic drive unit 27 having a magnet 32 that rotates when electricity is passed through the coil 31 and a rotor gear 33 that rotates as the magnet 32 rotates, a drive body 34 having a drive gear 35 that meshes with the rotor gear 33, and a running spring 40 that applies a biasing force in one direction in the opening/closing direction to the opening/closing blade 15 via the drive body 34, and the opening/closing blade 15 moves in the opening/closing direction as the drive body 34 rotates.

Therefore, the opening and closing operation of the opening/closing blade 15 can be performed by the driving force of the magnetic drive unit 27 generated when current is passed through the coil 31 and the biasing force of the running spring 40 in the drive body 34, and the opening and closing operation of the opening/closing blade 15 can be performed by reducing the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27, and the running speed of the opening/closing blade 15 can be increased without increasing the size of the magnetic drive unit 27 or increasing power consumption.

In addition, the magnetic drive unit 27 and the drive body 34 are arranged side by side in the same direction as the opening and closing direction of the opening and closing blade 15, i.e., in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction.

Therefore, since the magnetic drive unit 27 and the drive body 34 are arranged so as not to be aligned in the direction in which light passes through the opening 13a, the imaging device 1 and the blade opening/closing device 11 can be made smaller in size in the direction in which light travels.

Furthermore, the driving body 34 is provided with a supported shaft portion 37 that functions as a pivot point portion, and a torsion coil spring is used as the running spring 40, which is supported by the supported shaft portion 37.

Therefore, since the space required for arranging the running spring 40 is small and the spring force applied to the opening/closing blade 15 can be increased, the drive body 34 can be made smaller and the magnetic drive unit 27 can be made smaller, thereby improving energy efficiency.

Furthermore, a locking member 43 is provided having a locking portion 53b which is operable between a locked position and an unlocked position, and a locked portion 36c is formed on the driver 34. In the locked position, the locked portion 36c is pressed against the locking portion 53b by the biasing force of the running spring 40, thereby locking the driver 34 to the locking member 43.

Therefore, the initial position of the driver 34 before the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing blade 15 begins is determined by the force of the running spring 40 pressing the locked portion 36c against the locking portion 53b, so that the initial position of the driver 34 is stabilized and stable opening and closing operation of the opening and closing blade 15 can be ensured.

In this way, in the blade opening/closing device 11, the initial positions of the magnet 32 and the driver 34 are determined by the force of the running spring 40 pressing the locked portion 36c of the driver 34 against the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43.

On the other hand, it is also possible to configure the magnet 32 to be attracted to the first yoke 29 by magnetic force, thereby determining the initial positions of the magnet 32 and the driver 34. However, in this configuration, the initial positions of the magnet 32 and the driver 34 are significantly affected by the magnetization direction of the magnet 32 and the shape of the first yoke 29.

Therefore, as described above, by using the biasing force of the running spring 40 to press the locked portion 36c of the driver 34 against the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43 to determine the initial positions of the magnet 32 and the driver 34, the magnetization direction of the magnet 32 and the shape of the first yoke 29 do not affect the initial positions of the magnet 32 and the driver 34. This ensures high positional accuracy for the initial positions of the magnet 32 and the driver 34, and ensures stable performance of the drive mechanism 17 for the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing blade 15.

In addition, there is provided an unlocking body 42 that is operated between the lock holding position and the unlocked position to operate the locking member 43 between the locked position and the unlocked position, an electromagnet 56 that holds the unlocking body 42 in the lock holding position by adsorption, and an unlocking spring 51 that urges the unlocking body 42 towards the unlocked position.

Therefore, the electromagnet 56 holds the unlocking body 42 in the lock holding position, and by releasing the action of the electromagnet 56 on the unlocking body 42, the unlocking body 42 can be moved from the lock holding position to the unlocked position by the biasing force of the unlocking spring 51, and the movement of the unlocking body 42 between the lock holding position and the unlocked position can be reliably performed by a simple mechanism.

Furthermore, a brake lever 59 is provided which reduces the rotational speed of the driver 34 within a predetermined rotational range of the driver 34 as it approaches the rotation end.

Therefore, as the rotation speed decreases as it approaches the rotation end and the rotation of the driver 34 is stopped, sudden deceleration of the driver 34 and impact from the driver 34 to each part are suppressed, thereby improving the durability of the driver 34 and each part with which the driver 34 comes into contact.

Furthermore, the brake lever 59 is made rotatable, and is provided with a brake arm 60 that is pressed by the driver 34 and an action arm 61 that presses the unlocking body 42. When the driver 34 presses the brake arm 60, the action arm 61 presses the unlocking body 42, causing the unlocking body 42 to move from the unlocked position toward the lock holding position, and the locking member 43 to move from the unlocked position toward the locked position.

Therefore, since the brake lever 59 decelerates the driver 34 and moves the unlocking body 42 from the unlocked position to the locked position, there is no need to provide separate mechanisms for decelerating the driver 34 and moving the unlocking body 42, which simplifies the structure and speeds up operation.

The imaging device 1 and the blade opening/closing device 11 are provided with a brake lever 59 that reduces the rotational speed of the driver 34 when it is rotated from the first rotational position to the second rotational position, a locking member 43 that locks the driver 34 in the locked position, and an unlocking spring 51 that moves the locking member 43 from the locked position to the unlocked position when the driver 34 is unlocked, and the rotational force of the brake lever 59 is applied to the locking member 43, causing the locking member 43 to move from the unlocked position to the locked position.

Therefore, when the rotation speed of the driver 34 is reduced by the brake lever 59, the rotational force of the brake lever 59 is applied to the locking member 43, causing the locking member 43 to move from the unlocked position to the locked position. As a result, the movement of the locking member 43 from the unlocked position to the locked position is performed while the driver 34, which is rotated by the biasing force of the unlocking spring 51, is rotating, so that it is possible to reduce power consumption and shorten the time it takes for the locking member 43 to return from the unlocked position to the locked position.

In addition, when the rotational force of the brake lever 59 is applied to the locking member 43, the rotation of the driver 34 is restricted by the brake lever 59 and the rotation speed is reduced, so that a force in a direction restricting the rotation is applied to the driver 34 from the locking member 43 via the brake lever 59.

Therefore, since the rotation of the driver 34 is caused by the force applied from the brake lever 59 as well as the force applied from the lock member 43, the deceleration effect of the driver 34 is large, and the driver 34 can be decelerated efficiently and quickly.

Furthermore, a magnetic drive unit 27 is provided having a coil 31 to which a drive current is supplied and a magnet 32 which rotates as current is passed through the coil 31, and the opening/closing blade 15 is operated by the drive force of at least one of the drive body 34 or the magnetic drive unit 27.

Therefore, since the opening/closing blade 15 is operated in the opening/closing direction by the driving force of at least one of the magnetic driving unit 27 and the driving body 34, the degree of freedom in controlling the operation of the opening/closing blade 15 is improved, and the speed of the opening/closing blade 15 can be easily changed depending on the shooting mode, etc.

Furthermore, the magnetic drive unit 27 is provided with a rotor gear 33 that rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the magnet 32, the drive body 34 is provided with a drive gear 35 that meshes with the rotor gear 33, and a running spring 40 is provided that applies a biasing force in one direction in the opening and closing direction to the opening and closing blade 15 via the drive body 34.

Therefore, the opening/closing blade 15 can be operated in one direction in the opening/closing direction by the driving force generated by the rotation of the magnet 32 in the magnetic drive unit 27 and the driving force by the spring force of the running spring 40, so that the running speed of the opening/closing blade 15 can be increased without increasing the size of the magnetic drive unit 27 or increasing power consumption.

[1-5. Modifications]

Modified examples of the lock operation unit are described below (see Figs. 19 to 26). The lock operation unit 41A according to the modified example described below differs from the lock operation unit 41 described above mainly in that the release base is composed of two members. Therefore, for the lock operation unit 41A according to the modified example described below, only the parts that are different from the lock operation unit 41 will be described in detail, and the other parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals as the similar parts in the lock operation unit 41 and will not be described.

The lock operation unit 41A has an unlocking body 42A and a locking member 43 (see Figures 19 and 20).

The unlocking body 42A has a release base 44A and an adsorption piece 45, and the release base 44A is composed of a holding lever 71 and a release arm 72. The holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 are each capable of rotating independently between a lock holding position and an unlocked position, with the same axis as a fulcrum.

The holding lever 71 has a plate-shaped base surface portion 73 that faces substantially in the vertical direction and a first support surface portion 74 that is bent upward relative to the base surface portion 73. A part of the first support surface portion 74 is provided as a first spring receiving portion 74a that protrudes laterally from the base surface portion 73.

A substantially cylindrical first spring support member 75 is attached to the first spring receiving portion 74a. A return spring 76 is supported on the first spring support member 75 at the front side of the first spring receiving portion 74a. One end of the return spring 76 is engaged with the first support surface portion 74.

The suction piece 45 is fixed to the base surface portion 73 and is positioned on the upper surface side of one end of the base surface portion 73 in the left-right direction.

The release arm 72 has a second support surface portion 77 facing in the fore-and-aft direction, a spring hanging surface portion 78 bent rearward relative to the second support surface portion 77, and a pressing surface portion 79 bent toward the second support surface portion 77 relative to the spring hanging surface portion 78.

The second support surface portion 77 is positioned facing the first support surface portion 74 of the holding lever 71 in the front-rear direction, and the second support surface portion 77 is positioned in front of the first support surface portion 74. A part of the second support surface portion 77 is provided as a second spring receiving portion 77a positioned facing the first spring receiving portion 74a of the holding lever 71 in the front-rear direction. Another part of the second support surface portion 77 protrudes in the opposite direction to the second spring receiving portion 77a on the side of the base surface portion 73, and this protruding portion is provided as a release receiving portion 77b. The second support surface portion 77 is provided with a regulating protrusion 77c protruding downward.

The other end of the return spring 76 is engaged with the spring hook surface 78. Thus, both ends of the return spring 76 are engaged with the first support surface 74 and the spring hook surface 78, respectively, and the return spring 76 applies a biasing force to the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 in a direction in which the base surface 73 and the pressing surface 79 approach each other. As a result, when no force is applied to the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 in a direction opposite to the biasing force of the return spring 76, the pressing surface 79 is in abutment against the base surface 73.

A substantially cylindrical second spring support member 80 is attached to the second spring support portion 77a. The second spring support member 80 and the first spring support member 75 are connected between the first spring support portion 74a and the second spring support portion 77a.

An unlocking spring 81 is supported on the second spring support member 80 at the rear side of the second spring receiving portion 77a. The unlocking spring 81 is, for example, a torsion coil spring, one end of which is engaged with the spring support shaft 21 attached to the arrangement base 20 and the other end of which is engaged with the second support surface portion 77. The spring force of the unlocking spring 81 is made greater than the spring force of the return spring 76.

The locking member 43 has a supported plate portion 53 positioned opposite the second support surface portion 77 on the front side of the release arm 72, and a pressed plate portion 54 perpendicular to the supported plate portion 53 and positioned opposite the front end portion of the base surface portion 73 on the lower side of the release arm 72.

A third spring support member 82 having an approximately cylindrical shape is attached to the supported plate portion 53 of the locking member 43.

A lock spring 55 is supported on the third spring support member 82 in front of the second spring receiving portion 77a. The spring force of the lock spring 55 is set smaller than the spring force of the unlocking spring 81. One end of the lock spring 55 is engaged with the spring support shaft 21 attached to the arrangement base 20, and the other end is engaged with the supported plate portion 53 of the lock member 43.

The lock operation unit 41A is supported by the lock shaft 24 attached to the placement base 20 by inserting the lock shaft 24 into the shaft insertion hole 53a of the lock member 43, the first spring support member 75, the second spring support member 80 and the third spring support member 82, and the holding lever 71, release arm 72 and lock member 43 are each capable of rotating independently with the lock shaft 24 as a fulcrum.

When the lock operation unit 41A is allowed to rotate around the lock shaft 24 as a fulcrum, the release arm 72 is biased by the unlock spring 81 in a direction in which the pressing surface portion 79 comes into contact with the base surface portion 73 of the holding lever 71, and the holding lever 71 is biased in the same direction as the release arm 72 by the biasing force of the unlock spring 81 being applied via the release arm 72. Therefore, the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 are allowed to rotate together in the direction in which the biasing force of the unlock spring 81 is applied. In addition, the holding lever 71 is biased by the return spring 76 in a direction in which the base surface portion 73 approaches the pressing surface portion 79 of the release arm 72, and the biasing direction of the return spring 76 of the holding lever 71 is opposite to the biasing direction of the unlock spring 81 relative to the holding lever 71.

The locking member 43 is biased by the locking spring 55 in a direction in which the pressed plate portion 54 approaches the base surface portion 73. Therefore, the biasing directions of the unlocking spring 81 and the locking spring 55 are opposite to each other in the rotation direction of the locking operation unit 41A, and when no force other than the biasing force is applied to the unlocking body 42A and the locking member 43 in the rotation direction, the unlocking body 42A and the locking member 43 are held in a state in which the pressed plate portion 54 of the locking member 43 is pressed against the restricting protrusion 77c of the unlocking body 42A.

[1-6. Operation of the blade opening and closing device using the lock operation unit according to the modified example]

The operation of the blade opening and closing device 11 in which the lock operation unit 41A according to the modified example is used will be described below (see Figs. 21 to 26).

First, we will explain the initial state of each part of the drive mechanism 17 (see Figure 21).

In the initial state before the power button 6 of the imaging device 1 is operated, no current is flowing through the coil 31, no driving force is generated in the magnetic drive unit 27, and the rotation of the magnet 32 is stopped.

In the initial state, no current is applied to the electromagnet 56, and magnetic force is generated in the magnetic force generating unit 57. Therefore, the magnetic force generating unit 57 attracts the attraction piece 45, and the attraction pieces 45 are attracted by the attraction portions 57a, 57a. Therefore, the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 of the lock release body 42A are both held in the lock holding position.

At this time, the locking member 43 is applied with a biasing force by the locking spring 55 in a direction in which the pressed portion plate 54 approaches the base surface portion 73, and the pressed portion plate 54 is pressed against the regulating protrusion 77c of the release arm 72, thereby holding the locking member 43 in the locked position.

When the locking member 43 is held in the locked position, the locked portion 36c of the driving lever 36 in the driving body 34 is engaged with the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43, and the driving body 34 is held at the first rotation end in a locked state with its rotation restricted against the biasing force of the running spring 40. Therefore, the driving force generated by the biasing force of the running spring 40 is not transmitted from the driving body 34 to the opening/closing blade 15, and for example, the opening/closing blade 15 is held in the open position.

At this time, the image sensor 12 is in a blocked state (non-exposed state) where no light is allowed to enter due to the electronic curtain (front curtain).

In the initial state, the brake lever 59 is held in the deceleration start position, the brake arm 60 is separated from the drive lever 36 of the drive body 34, and the pressure shaft 62 attached to the action arm 61 is separated from the release receiving portion 77b of the second support surface portion 77 of the release arm 72.

In the initial state described above, when the electromagnet 56 is energized, the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing blade 15 is started (see FIG. 22). At the same time as the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing blade 15, control of the electronic curtain is also started.

When the electromagnet 56 is energized, the opening/closing blade 15 starts moving from the open position to the closed position. When the opening/closing blade 15 moves from the open position to the closed position, a slit is formed between the electronic curtain and the opening/closing blade 15, and the electronic curtain is controlled according to the operating speed of the opening/closing blade 15. Light is incident on the image sensor 12 through the formed slit, thereby performing exposure.

When the electromagnet 56 is energized, the magnetic force generated in the magnetic force generating unit 57 disappears, and the attraction of the attraction piece 45 by the attraction units 57a, 57a is released. Therefore, the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 are integrally rotated from the lock holding position to the lock release position by the biasing force of the lock release spring 81.

When the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 are rotated from the lock holding position to the lock release position, the restricting protrusion 77c of the release arm 72 presses the pressed plate portion 54 of the locking member 43, and the locked portion 36c of the driver 34 is released from engagement with the lock portion 53b of the locking member 43. Therefore, the locking member 43 is rotated from the locked position to the unlocked position together with the lock release body 42A formed by the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 against the biasing force of the lock spring 55.

The holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 rotated toward the unlocked position are stopped from rotating and held in the unlocked position when a part of either of them comes into contact with a rotation restriction part (not shown) attached to the arrangement base 20 or formed on the arrangement base 20. At the same time, the locking member 43 rotated integrally with the unlocking body 42A toward the unlocked position is stopped from rotating together with the unlocking body 42A and is held in the unlocked position.

On the other hand, when the engagement between the locked portion 36c of the driver 34 and the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43 is released, the driver 34 is rotated from the first rotation end to the second rotation end by the biasing force of the running spring 40, and the driving force generated by the biasing force of the running spring 40 is transmitted to the opening/closing blade 15 via the driver 34, and the opening/closing blade 15 is moved from the open position to the closed position in conjunction with the rotation of the driver 34.

At this time, the electromagnet 56 is energized and at the same time the coil 31 of the magnetic drive unit 27 is energized, the magnet 32 functioning as a rotor and the rotor gear 33 are rotated integrally in the opposite direction to the drive body 34, and the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27 is transmitted from the rotor gear 33 via the drive body 34 to the opening/closing blade 15. Therefore, the opening/closing blade 15 is operated by both the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27 and the driving force generated by the biasing force of the running spring 40, and is moved at high speed from the open position to the closed position.

Next, current is applied to the coil 31, and the opening/closing blade 15 is further moved toward the closed position (see Figure 23).

The magnetic drive unit 27 and the drive body 34 continue to rotate in the opposite direction in synchronization, and the drive body 34 is further rotated toward the second rotation end by the biasing force of the running spring 40. The drive body 34 further rotated toward the second rotation end contacts the brake arm 60 of the brake lever 59, whose connecting shaft 38 attached to the drive lever 36 is held at the deceleration start position, and the brake lever 59 is pressed against the connecting shaft 38 and rotated from the deceleration start position toward the rotation stop position against the friction force. Therefore, the rotation speed of the drive body 34 is gradually reduced by the brake lever 59 as it approaches the second rotation end, and the operating speed of the opening and closing blades 15 is also gradually reduced as it approaches the closed position.

At this time, the rotation of the brake lever 59 brings the pressing shaft 62 into contact with the release receiving portion 77b of the release arm 72. When the pressing shaft 62 of the brake lever 59 comes into contact with the release receiving portion 77b of the release arm 72, the current to the electromagnet 56 is stopped. Therefore, magnetic force is generated in the magnetic force generating portion 57 again.

Furthermore, the magnetic drive unit 27 and the drive body 34 are rotated in opposite directions in synchronization, the brake lever 59 is pressed against the connecting shaft 38 and continues to rotate, and the brake arm 60 comes into contact with the stopper 26 attached to the placement base 20, stopping the rotation of the brake lever 59 (see Figure 24).

The brake lever 59 is held in a rotation stop position by contacting the stopper 26, and as the brake lever 59 stops rotating, the rotation of the driver 34, magnet 32, and rotor gear 33 is stopped, and the driver 34 is held at the second rotation end. At this time, the current to the coil 31 of the magnetic drive unit 27 is stopped.

When the brake lever 59 is pressed against the connecting shaft 38 and rotated, the pressing shaft 62 of the brake lever 59 presses the release receiving portion 77b of the release arm 72, and the release arm 72 rotates from the unlocked position to the locked position against the biasing force of the lock release spring 81. At this time, the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 are each capable of rotating about the same shaft as a fulcrum, so that when the pressing shaft 62 of the brake lever 59 presses the release receiving portion 77b of the release arm 72, the release arm 72 rotates to the locked position, but the holding lever 71 does not rotate with the release arm 72. The lock member 43 is biased by the biasing force of the lock spring 55 in a direction in which the pressed plate portion 54 is pressed against the restricting protrusion 77c of the release arm 72, so that the biasing force of the lock spring 55 causes the lock member 43 to rotate with the release arm 72.

When the release receiving portion 77b is pressed by the pressing shaft 62 of the brake lever 59 and the release arm 72 is rotated toward the lock holding position against the biasing force of the lock release spring 81, the release arm 72 is separated from the holding lever 71, so that the biasing force of the return spring 76, the both ends of which are engaged with the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72, respectively, increases. Therefore, the holding lever 71 is rotated toward the lock holding position by the biasing force of the return spring 76 with a delay from the rotation of the release arm 72 (see FIG. 25).

At this time, the spring force of the return spring 76 is made smaller than the spring force of the unlocking spring 81, and the locking member 43 is rotated to the lock holding position at a speed slower than the rotational speed of the unlocking arm 72 which is pressed and rotated by the pressing shaft 62 of the brake lever 59.

When the driver 34 is held at the second rotation end as described above, the opening/closing blade 15, which is operated in conjunction with the rotation of the driver 34, reaches the closed position, completing the operation of the opening/closing blade 15 from the open position to the closed position, and the opening 13a of the base body 13 is closed.

At this time, the electromagnet 56 is de-energized and a magnetic force is generated in the magnetic force generating unit 57. Therefore, the magnetic force generating unit 57 attracts the attraction piece 45, and the attraction pieces 45 are attracted by the attraction units 57a and 57a, causing the unlocking body 42A to rotate to the lock holding position and return to the initial state, and the locking member 43 to rotate to the lock position and return to the initial state.

When the movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the open position to the closed position is completed, the movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the closed position to the open position is then started. When the movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the closed position to the open position is started, the image sensor 12 is brought into a closed state (non-exposed state) where no light is incident by the electronic screen.

The movement of the opening/closing blade 15 from the closed position to the open position is initiated by passing current through the coil 31 of the magnetic drive unit 27 in the opposite direction to that previously applied (see Figure 26).

When electricity is applied to the coil 31 in the opposite direction, the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27 is transmitted from the rotor gear 33 to the drive body 34, causing the drive body 34 to rotate from the second rotation end to the first rotation end against the biasing force of the running spring 40 and return to its initial state, and the driving force generated in the magnetic drive unit 27 is transmitted from the rotor gear 33 via the drive body 34 to the opening/closing blade 15, causing the opening/closing blade 15 to move from the closed position to the open position.

When the driver 34 is rotated from the second rotation end to the first rotation end, the connecting shaft 38 of the driver 34 is separated from the brake arm 60, but the return shaft 39 of the driver 34 contacts the brake arm 60 from the opposite direction to the contact direction of the connecting shaft 38, and the brake lever 59 is rotated from the rotation stop position to the deceleration start position by the return shaft 39 and returns to the initial state. By rotating the brake lever 59 from the rotation stop position toward the deceleration start position, the pressing shaft 62 is separated from the release receiving portion 77b of the release arm 72.

When the driver 34 is rotated from the second rotation end to the first rotation end, the locking member 43 is rotated from the unlocked position to the locked position, and the sliding inclined edge 36d of the driver lever 36 slides on the locking portion 53b of the locking member 43, and the locking member 43 is rotated against the biasing force of the locking spring 55. When the driver 34 is further rotated to the first rotation end, the sliding inclined edge 36d overcomes the locking portion 53b, and the locking member 43 is rotated by the biasing force of the locking spring 55, and the locked portion 36c engages with the locking portion 53b, and the driver 34 is restricted from rotating against the biasing force of the running spring 40, is held in a locked state, and is returned to the initial state.

When the driver 34 is held at the first rotation end and returns to its initial state, the flow of current in the opposite direction to the coil 31 is stopped, and the magnetic driver 27 is placed in a state where it is not generating a driving force on the opening/closing blade 15.

As described above, in the blade opening/closing device 11 and imaging device 1 in which the lock operation unit 41A is used, the lock release body 42A has a holding lever 71 that is attracted to the electromagnet 56 and a release arm 72 that is pressed by the brake lever 59, and the holding lever 71 and the release arm 72 are each capable of rotating separately.

Therefore, it is possible to set the rotation speed of the holding lever 71 to a speed different from the rotation speed of the release arm 72 pressed by the brake lever 59, and by setting the rotation speed of the holding lever 71 when attracted by the electromagnet 56 slower than the rotation speed of the release arm 72, the impact applied to the electromagnet 56 when the unlocking body 42A is attracted by the electromagnet 56 can be reduced, and the high performance of the electromagnet 56 can be maintained.

In particular, the adsorption portions 57a, 57a of the electromagnet 56 are often formed from a low-hardness material, and by reducing the impact applied to the electromagnet 56 from the unlocking body 42A, wear on the adsorption portions 57a, 57a can be suppressed, and good characteristics can be ensured by improving the durability of the electromagnet 56.

In addition, the release arm 72 is biased by the unlocking spring 81, and a return spring 76 is provided which biases the holding lever 71 in a direction approaching the release arm 72, and the biasing force of the return spring 76 is made smaller than the biasing force of the unlocking spring 81.

Therefore, since the holding lever 71 is rotated in a direction approaching the release arm 72 by the return spring 76 having a spring force smaller than that of the unlocking spring 81, the rotational speed of the holding lever 71 when attracted by the electromagnet 56 can be made slower than the rotational speed of the release arm 72 by the simple configuration, and the impact caused by the unlocking body 42A in the electromagnet 56 can be reliably reduced by the simple configuration.

2. Electrical configuration
[2-1. Electrical configuration example of imaging device]

Next, an example of the electrical configuration of the imaging device 1 will be described.
FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical internal configuration of the imaging device 1.
As shown in the figure, the imaging device 1 includes an optical block 90 , an imaging element 12 , a camera signal processing unit 91 , an image processing unit 92 , a display unit 93 , a recording control unit 94 , a control unit 95 , a driver unit 96 , and an operation unit 97 .
Although the figure shows a battery 98 serving as an operating power source for the imaging device 1, the battery 98 may be detachable from the imaging device 1. The battery 98 is used as an operating power source for each required part in the imaging device 1.

The optical block 90 has an optical system 10 including lenses such as a cover lens, a zoom lens, and a focus lens, an aperture mechanism, and the like, and a blade opening/closing device (blade opening/closing unit) 11 .
The optical system 10 guides light (incident light) from a subject, and the incident light is condensed onto the imaging surface of the imaging element 12 via an opening 13 a of the blade opening/closing device 11 .
The blade opening/closing device 11 is also provided with an electromagnet 56 and a magnetic drive unit (motor) 27. As will be understood from the above description, the electromagnet 56 functions as an electronic device for controlling the locking/unlocking of the drive body 34. When the electromagnet 56 is energized, the locked state of the drive body 34 is released, and the drive body 34 rotates due to the biasing force of the running spring 40, and the opening/closing blades 15 start to run from the open position to the closed position.

The imaging element 12 photoelectrically converts the light incident via the optical block 90 to obtain an electrical signal according to the amount of received light. The imaging element 12 may be, for example, a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.
The image sensor 12 performs, for example, CDS (Correlated Double Sampling) processing, AGC (Automatic Gain Control) processing, etc., on the electric signal obtained by photoelectric conversion, and further performs A/D (Analog/Digital) conversion processing, and outputs the captured image signal as digital data to a camera signal processor 91 at a downstream stage.

The camera signal processing unit 91 is configured as an image processor, for example, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The camera signal processing unit 91 performs various signal processing on the digital signal (captured image signal) from the image sensor 12. For example, various signal processing such as noise removal, image quality correction, and conversion to luminance and color difference signals is performed.

The image processing unit 92 performs compression encoding, decompression decoding processing of image signals based on a predetermined image data format, as well as conversion processing of data specifications such as resolution.

The recording control unit 94 performs recording and reproduction on a recording medium such as a non-volatile memory, for example. The recording control unit 94 performs processing for recording image files such as moving image data and still image data, thumbnail images, and the like on the recording medium, for example.
There are various possible actual forms for the recording control unit 94. For example, the recording control unit 94 may be configured as a flash memory built into the imaging device 1 and a write/read circuit for the memory memory, or may be in the form of a card recording/playback unit that performs recording/playback access to a recording medium that can be attached to and detached from the imaging device 1, such as a memory card (such as a portable flash memory). The recording control unit 94 may also be realized as an SSD (Solid State Drive) or HDD (Hard Disk Drive) built into the imaging device 1.

The display unit 93 displays various information to the user, and is realized by a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic electro-luminescence (EL) display as the display 7 described above.
The display unit 93 displays various information on the display screen based on instructions from the control unit 95. For example, the display unit 93 displays a reproduced image of image data read out from a recording medium by the recording control unit 94.
Further, the display unit 93 may be supplied with image data of a captured image that has been resolution-converted for display by the image processing unit 92, and the display unit 93 may perform display based on the image data of the captured image in response to an instruction from the control unit 95. This allows a so-called through image (monitoring image of the subject), which is a captured image during composition confirmation, to be displayed.
Based on instructions from the control unit 95, the display unit 93 displays various operation menus, icons, messages, etc., that is, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) on the screen.

The operation unit 97 collectively indicates input devices for the user to input various operations. Specifically, the operation unit 97 indicates various operators such as the shutter button 4, the zoom switch 5, the power button 6, and the operation unit 8 provided on the housing of the imaging device 1, as well as various operators such as a dial, a touch panel, and a touch pad.
The operation unit 97 detects the operation of the user, and sends a signal corresponding to the input operation to the control unit 95 .

The driver unit 96 collectively represents drivers for driving various electronic devices such as actuators provided in the optical block 90. The driver unit 96 is provided with a motor driver for a zoom lens drive motor in the optical system 10, a motor driver for a focus lens drive motor, a motor driver for a motor of an aperture mechanism, and the like. In particular, in the case of this embodiment, the driver unit 96 is provided with a shutter motor driver unit 99 for driving the magnetic drive unit 27 as a shutter motor, and a spring driver unit 100 for driving the electromagnet 56.
Each driver in the driver section 96 drives a corresponding electronic device in response to an instruction from the control section 95 .

The control unit 95 is configured with a microcomputer (arithmetic processing device) equipped with, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and controls the entire imaging device 1 by executing a program stored in the ROM.
For example, the control unit 95 controls the shutter speed (exposure time) of the image sensor 12, instructs various signal processing in the camera signal processing unit 91, controls the image capturing operation and recording operation in response to user operations, and controls the recording control unit 94 for playing back recorded image files. The control unit 95 also controls the operation of each necessary unit for the operation of the zoom lens, focus lens, aperture mechanism, etc. in the optical system 10, the user interface operation, etc.

In particular, the control unit 95 in this embodiment issues instructions to a shutter motor driver unit 99 to control the operation of the magnetic drive unit 27 , and also issues instructions to a spring driver unit 100 to control the operation of the electromagnet 56 .
In controlling the shutter speed described above, the control unit 95 controls the timing of resetting the charge of the image sensor 12 (controls the running of the electronic front curtain) and controls the running of the opening/closing blades 15 (rear curtain) by controlling the operation of the magnetic drive unit 27 and the electromagnet 56.

Furthermore, the control unit 95 in this embodiment is capable of setting the following items based on the user's operation.

- Travel speed of opening/closing blade 15: "curtain speed"
Continuous shooting speed (the number of times captured image data as still images is acquired per unit time: for example, frames/second): "frame speed"
- Flash (strobe) 3 ON/OFF (emitted/non-emitted)
- Strobe sync speed - Silent mode ON/OFF

Hereinafter, the running speed of the opening/closing blades 15 will be referred to as the "curtain speed" from the viewpoint of the running speed of the rear curtain. Also, the continuous shooting speed will be referred to as the "frame speed." Furthermore, "flash" may be referred to as "strobe."
Of the above items, the curtain speed and frame speed can also be set to "AUTO" (automatic selection). When "AUTO" is selected, the control unit 95 sets the optimal values (parameters).
In the above items, the silent mode is a mode related to the sound generated by the movement of the opening/closing blades 15 in the blade opening/closing device 11. When the silent mode is ON, the opening/closing blades 15 are caused to move with enhanced quietness.

In this embodiment, a large-capacity capacitor is used as the driving power source for the magnetic driving unit 27 in order to increase the curtain speed.
FIG. 28 shows an example of the circuit configuration of the drive system of the magnetic drive unit 27 in this embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the output voltage of a battery 98 is supplied to a shutter motor driver unit 99 .
The shutter motor driver unit 99 includes a DC/DC converter 101 , a capacitor 102 , and a driver IC (Integrated Circuit) 103 .
In this example, the DC/DC converter 101 is configured as a step-up switching regulator, and steps up the output voltage from the battery 98 and outputs it.
The capacitor 102 is charged by receiving the output voltage of the DC/DC converter 101 , and the voltage across the capacitor 102 is supplied as a power supply voltage for the driver IC 103 .

The driver IC 103 is configured to have an H-bridge circuit made up of, for example, four transistors, and supplies a drive current corresponding to the power supply voltage supplied from the capacitor 102 to the magnetic drive unit 27. At this time, the driver IC 103 supplies the drive current to the magnetic drive unit 27 based on an instruction from the control unit 95. The driver IC 103 also causes the drive current in the direction (polarity) instructed by the control unit 95 to flow through the coil 31 (not shown in FIG. 28 ) of the magnetic drive unit 27 by the above-mentioned H-bridge circuit.

[2-2. About driving modes]

Here, the imaging device 1 of this embodiment has, as running modes for the opening/closing blade 15 in the blade opening/closing device 11, a hybrid running mode, which is a running mode in which both the magnetic drive unit 27 and the running spring 40 transmit running power to the opening/closing blade 15, and a spring running mode, which is a running mode in which only the running spring 40 of the magnetic drive unit 27 and the running spring 40 transmits running power to the opening/closing blade 15.
The control unit 95 switches the running mode of the opening/closing blades 15 between the hybrid running mode and the spring running mode.

29A and 29B are diagrams for explaining the operation in each driving mode, with FIG. 29A being a diagram for explaining the operation in the hybrid driving mode, and FIG. 29B being a diagram for explaining the operation in the spring driving mode.
First, in any running mode, when the release is started in response to the operation of the shutter button 4, the running of the front curtain serving as the electronic curtain starts, and the exposure area is gradually expanded on the image sensor 12. Note that it is assumed that the charging of the capacitor 102 is completed at the time of the start of the release.
After the front curtain starts to travel, the opening/closing blades 15 serving as the rear curtain start to travel (to the closing position described above) at a timing corresponding to the set value of the shutter speed.

29A, the magnetic drive unit 27 is used as a power source for moving the opening/closing blade 15 to the closed position, and therefore the capacitor 102 is discharged when the opening/closing blade 15 starts to move. When the opening/closing blade 15 finishes moving (i.e., when it reaches the closed position described above), the driving of the magnetic drive unit 27 is stopped, the discharging of the capacitor 102 is stopped, and charging of the capacitor 102 is started. This charging is performed to store the power required for winding up the running spring 40 (which also serves as the operation of returning the opening/closing blade 15 to the open position in this example).
When the charging is completed, the magnetic drive unit 27 starts to be driven to wind up the running spring 40, and the capacitor 102 is discharged again. When the winding up of the running spring 40 is completed (i.e., when the opening/closing blade 15 reaches the open position), charging of the capacitor 102 starts again. This charging is performed again in order to store power for the magnetic drive unit 27 to run the opening/closing blade 15 from the open position to the closed position at the next release.
Once this recharging is complete, the next release can begin.

On the other hand, in the spring travel mode shown in FIG. 29B, the opening/closing blade 15 travels to the closed position by the power of the travel spring 40, and the magnetic drive unit 27 is not used. Therefore, even if the opening/closing blade 15 starts traveling, the capacitor 102 is not discharged. In this case, after the opening/closing blade 15 has finished traveling to the closed position, the capacitor 102 is discharged when the traveling spring 40 is wound up. Then, when the winding of the traveling spring 40 is completed, charging of the capacitor 102 begins, and when the charging is completed, the capacitor is ready to start the next release.

In the hybrid running mode, the power of both the running spring 40 and the magnetic drive unit 27 is used for the running of the opening/closing blade 15, so that the blade speed can be increased.
On the other hand, in the spring driving mode, the number of times capacitor 102 is charged (or in other words, the charging time) per release (i.e. per frame of a captured image) is reduced compared to the hybrid driving mode, so that the waiting time until the next release can be initiated can be reduced and the frame speed can be increased (see arrow "X" in Figure 29B).

In this embodiment, by switching the driving mode between the hybrid driving mode and the spring driving mode, it is possible to achieve imaging with an increased curtain speed and imaging with an increased frame speed, which are contradictory images, using a single imaging device.

Here, in the hybrid driving mode, not only the power of the running spring 40 but also the power of the magnetic drive unit 27 is used. In view of this, the hybrid driving mode and the spring driving mode can also be defined as follows. That is, the hybrid driving mode is a driving mode in which the power consumption of the magnetic drive unit 27 is high, and the spring driving mode is a driving mode in which the power consumption of the magnetic drive unit 27 is low. In short, the hybrid driving mode and the spring driving mode are driving modes in which the power consumption of the magnetic drive unit 27 is different.

In addition, when the power of the magnetic drive unit 27 is used in addition to the power of the running spring 40, the curtain speed can be increased. From this perspective, the hybrid running mode can be defined as a running mode in which the running speed of the opening/closing blade 15 is fast, and the spring running mode can be defined as a running mode in which the running speed is slow (i.e., the hybrid running mode and the spring running mode are running modes in which the running speed of the opening/closing blade 15 is different).

In the above description, the spring running mode is a running mode in which only the running spring 40 transmits the running power to the opening/closing blade 15, but the spring running mode may also include a case in which the magnetic drive unit 27 slightly assists the power of the running spring 40. In view of this, the hybrid running mode and the spring running mode can also be defined as follows. That is, the hybrid running mode is a mode in which both the magnetic drive unit 27 and the running spring 40 transmit the running power to the opening/closing blade 15, and the spring running mode is a mode in which the running spring transmits the running power, and the power consumption of the magnetic drive unit 27 is lower than that of the hybrid running mode.
As an example of the magnetic drive unit 27 providing slight assistance in the spring running mode, the magnetic drive unit 27 may provide assistance to absorb changes in the torque of the running spring 40 over time and individual differences.

[2-3. Control Example I]

The above-mentioned switching of the driving mode may be performed according to the setting of the strobe synchronization speed.
The flowchart in Fig. 30 shows a process for switching the running mode according to the strobe synchronization speed. In this example, the process shown in Fig. 30 is executed by the control unit 95 based on the program stored in the above-mentioned ROM.

First, in step ST1, the control unit 95 waits until the setting of the flash synchronization speed is changed. Specifically, in this example, the control unit 95 waits until the setting of the flash synchronization speed is changed based on a user operation.
If the setting of the strobe synchronization speed has been changed, the control section 95 determines in step ST2 whether the strobe is ON or not, that is, whether a value indicating ON is set as the ON/OFF setting value of the flash 3 or not.
If the strobe is not ON, the control unit 95 ends the series of processes shown in Fig. 30. In other words, if the strobe is OFF, there is no need to execute the processes in and after step ST3 described below, and therefore the control unit 95 ends the processes shown in Fig. 30.

On the other hand, if the flash is ON, the control unit 95 proceeds to step ST3 and determines whether or not the set value of the flash synchronization speed exceeds a threshold value THs, which is set to a value equal to or lower than the fastest shutter speed that can be achieved in the spring travel mode.
If the set value of the flash synchronization speed does not exceed the threshold value THs, the control unit 95 proceeds to step ST4 to select the spring running mode, and ends the series of processes shown in FIG.
On the other hand, if the set value of the flash synchronization speed exceeds the threshold value THs, the control unit 95 proceeds to step ST5 to select the hybrid driving mode, and ends the series of processes shown in FIG.

By the above-described processing, when the strobe synchronization speed is equal to or lower than the threshold value THs, the running mode is switched to one which is advantageous for the frame speed as the spring running mode, and when the frame speed is set to the aforementioned "AUTO", it is possible to set the fastest frame speed according to the set value of the strobe synchronization speed.
On the other hand, when the strobe synchronization speed exceeds the threshold value THs, the driving mode is switched to a hybrid driving mode that is advantageous in terms of curtain speed, making it possible to achieve imaging at a high strobe synchronization speed that is not possible in the spring driving mode.

By the process of the above-described control example I, with regard to imaging involving strobe emission, imaging at a high strobe synchronization speed and imaging at a high continuous shooting speed can both be achieved with a single imaging device.

[2-4. Control Example II]

Next, a control example II will be described.
Control example II relates to the adjustment of three parameters: curtain speed, frame speed, and shutter speed.

First, the preconditions for Control Example II will be described.
In control example II, Hi (High)/Low are defined for the shutter speed, curtain speed, and frame speed as shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the Hi/Low shutter speeds are divided by a predetermined threshold value. Specifically, in this example, the threshold value is the maximum strobe synchronization speed. The maximum strobe synchronization speed here means the maximum strobe synchronization speed that can be realized in the hybrid driving mode. For example, if the maximum strobe synchronization speed in the spring driving mode is 1/250, and the maximum strobe synchronization speed can be realized up to 1/500 in the hybrid driving mode, then 1/500 corresponds to the maximum strobe synchronization speed.
In the following, shutter speed will sometimes be abbreviated as "SS."

The Hi/Low shutter speed and frame speed are classified according to whether they can be realized by spring drive (i.e., spring running mode) or hybrid drive (hybrid running mode) as the shutter drive. Specifically, the range of shutter speed that can be realized by spring drive is called Low, and the range that can be realized by hybrid drive is called Hi.
On the other hand, for the frame speed, the range that can be achieved by hybrid drive is set to Low, and the range that can be achieved by spring drive is set to Hi.
For the curtain speed, two values, Hi and Low, can be set as a parameter.
The frame speed can be set as a parameter in multiple steps, for example, from 1 frame/sec to 8 frames/sec, and the set value is divided into Hi/Low.
As described above, in this embodiment, the curtain speed and frame speed can also be set to "AUTO."

FIG. 32 shows combinations of settings for the shutter speed (SS), frame speed, and curtain speed functions.
There are eight possible combinations, from (1) to (8) in the figure. Combinations (1) to (4) all have Hi shutter speeds, and combinations (5) to (8) all have Low shutter speeds.
Combinations (1) and (5) in which both the frame speed and the curtain speed are Hi are not valid and do not need to be considered. Therefore, when adjusting the parameters of the shutter speed, frame speed, and curtain speed, it is sufficient to consider combinations (2) to (4) and (6) to (8).

Here, in control example II, the control unit 95 performs mode recognition for managing the state as to whether the current state is a state in which priority should be given to the curtain speed or the frame speed, depending on the settings of the shutter speed, frame speed, and Hi/Low curtain speed. That is, it recognizes the curtain speed priority mode/frame speed priority mode.
Specifically, the control unit 95 recognizes the curtain speed priority mode and the frame speed priority mode as follows.

・If the user changes the setting of the curtain speed to Hi => it is recognized as curtain speed priority mode. ・If the user changes the setting of the curtain speed to Low => it is recognized as frame speed priority mode. ・If the user changes the setting of the frame speed to Low => it is recognized as curtain speed priority mode. ・If the user changes the setting of the SS to Hi => it is recognized as curtain speed priority mode. ・If the user changes the setting of the SS to Low => it is recognized as frame speed priority mode.

In control example II, the control unit 95 recognizes whether the curtain speed, frame speed, or shutter speed is in the curtain speed priority mode or frame speed priority mode when the user operates to change the setting.The control unit 95 then adjusts the parameters of the curtain speed, frame speed, and shutter speed based on the result of this recognition.In this example, the ON/OFF status of the strobe and the "AUTO" setting are also taken into consideration in this adjustment.

A specific processing example will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
33, the control unit 95 waits in step S101 until any of the settings of SS, curtain speed, or frame speed is changed, and if any of these settings is changed, it determines in step S102 whether the strobe is ON. If the strobe is not ON, the control unit 95 executes the process shown in FIG. 34, and if the strobe is ON, it executes the process shown in FIG. 35.

First, the process in FIG. 34 when the strobe is not ON will be described.
In step S103, the control unit 95 determines whether the mode is the curtain speed priority mode or the frame speed priority mode. That is, the control unit 95 determines whether the curtain speed priority mode or the frame speed priority mode has been recognized in response to the setting change detected in step S101.
As will be understood from the above explanation, the case where the curtain speed priority mode is determined is when the settings are changed to either the curtain speed Hi, the frame speed Low, or the SS Low, and the case where the frame speed priority mode is determined is when the settings are changed to either the curtain speed Low, the frame speed Hi, or the SS Low.

If it is determined that the mode is the curtain speed priority mode, the control unit 95 determines in step S104 whether or not the curtain speed is Hi. If the curtain speed is Hi, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S106 to determine whether or not the frame speed setting is "AUTO." If the frame speed setting is "AUTO," the control unit 95 proceeds to step S107 to set the frame speed to the maximum speed of Low, and then ends the series of processes continuing from FIG. 33.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the frame speed setting is not "AUTO", the control section 95 proceeds to step S108 to allow the frame speed to be selected within the Low range, and ends the series of processes subsequent to FIG.

Also, if it is determined in step S104 that the shutter speed is not Hi, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S105 to determine whether or not the SS is Hi. If the SS is Hi, the control unit 95 proceeds to the above-mentioned step S106. That is, if the frame speed setting is "AUTO", the frame speed is set to the maximum Low speed, and if it is not "AUTO", the frame speed can be set within the Low range.

On the other hand, if SS is not Hi in step S105, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S109, sets the frame speed to Low, and ends the series of processes that follow from Figure 33. Here, when it is determined that SS is not Hi in step S105, that is, when the setting change detected in step S101 is to change the frame speed to Low, and therefore in step S109 the frame speed is set to Low.

Also, if in step S103 it is determined that the frame speed priority mode is selected, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S110 to determine whether the frame speed is Hi or not, and if the frame speed is Hi, in step S111 the curtain speed is Low and the SS is selectable between Hi and Low, and then the series of processes continuing from Figure 33 is completed.

Just to clarify, the SS can be adjusted by the time difference between the start timing of the electronic leading curtain and the opening/closing blades 15, and the SS can be set to Hi even if the curtain speed is Low.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S110 that the frame speed is not Hi, the control unit 95 determines in step S112 whether or not the curtain speed setting is "AUTO." If the curtain speed setting is "AUTO," the control unit 95 proceeds to step S113 to set the curtain speed to Hi and the SS to Low, and then ends the series of processes continuing from FIG.
Here, the case where it is determined in step S112 that the curtain speed setting is "AUTO" means that the setting change detected in step S101 has been to change the SS to Low, and therefore, in step S113, the SS is set to Low.

Also, if it is determined in step S112 that the curtain speed setting is not "AUTO", the control unit 95 proceeds to step S114, makes the curtain speed selectable between Hi and Low, makes the SS selectable between Hi and Low, and ends the series of processes continuing from FIG.
A case in which it is determined in step S112 that the curtain speed setting is not "AUTO" means that the setting change detected in step S101 has been to change the curtain speed to Low or the SS to Low, and therefore in step S114, Hi or Low can be selected for the curtain speed and SS.
At this time, if the setting change is to change the curtain speed to Low, the curtain speed is set to Low, and if the setting change is to change the SS to Low, the SS is set to Low.

Here, the processing of steps S113 and S114 can include a process of determining whether the silent mode described above is ON or not, and if the silent mode is ON, setting the curtain speed to Low.

Next, the process shown in FIG. 35 which corresponds to when the strobe is turned on will be described.
First, in step S119, the control unit 95 sets SS to the strobe synchronization speed. That is, since the strobe is ON and slit exposure is not possible, SS is set to the strobe synchronization speed.

In the next step S120, the control unit 95 determines whether the mode is the curtain speed priority mode or the frame speed priority mode.
If it is the curtain speed priority mode, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S121 to determine whether the curtain speed is Hi or not, and if the curtain speed is Hi, then in step S122 it determines whether the frame speed setting is "AUTO" or not. If the frame speed setting is "AUTO", the control unit 95 proceeds to step S123 to set the frame speed to Low, the maximum speed, and then ends the series of processes continuing from FIG.
On the other hand, if the frame speed setting is not "AUTO", the control section 95 allows the frame speed to be selected within the Low range in step S124, and ends the series of processes subsequent to FIG.

Also, if it is determined in step S121 that the curtain speed is not Hi, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S125 to determine whether the frame speed setting is "AUTO" or not, and if the frame speed setting is "AUTO", the control unit 95 proceeds to step S126 to set the frame speed to Hi, and then ends the series of processes continuing from Figure 33.
On the other hand, if the frame speed setting is not "AUTO" in step S125, the control section 95 proceeds to step S127 to make the frame speed selectable between Hi and Low, and then ends the series of processes continuing from FIG.
In step S125, it is determined that the frame speed setting is not "AUTO" if the setting change detected in step S101 is to change the frame speed to Hi or the SS to Hi, and therefore, in step S127, Hi or Low can be selected for the frame speed. In addition, if the setting change is to change the frame speed to Hi, the frame speed is set to Hi.

Next, if it is determined in step S120 that the mode is the frame speed priority mode, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S128 to determine whether or not the frame speed is Hi, and if the frame speed is Hi, the curtain speed is set to Low in step S129, and the series of processes continuing from FIG. 33 is terminated.
On the other hand, if the frame speed is not Hi in step S128, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S130 to determine whether the curtain speed setting is "AUTO" or not, and if the curtain speed setting is not "AUTO", the curtain speed is set to Hi in step S131, and the series of processes continuing from FIG. 33 is terminated.
It should be noted that the case where it is determined in step S130 that the curtain speed setting is "AUTO" means that the setting change detected in step S101 is to change the SS to Low (i.e., the setting change was not to change the curtain speed to Low). In step S131, since the curtain speed setting is "AUTO", the curtain speed is set to Hi.

If the curtain speed setting is not "AUTO" in step S130, the control unit 95 proceeds to step S132, where the curtain speed is selectable between Hi and Low, and then ends the series of processes continuing from FIG.
Incidentally, a case in which it is determined in step S130 that the curtain speed setting is not "AUTO" means that the setting change detected in step S101 has been to change the curtain speed to Low or to Low SS, and therefore in step S132, the curtain speed can be selected between Hi and Low.
At this time, if the setting change is to change the curtain speed to Low, the curtain speed is set to Low.

Here, the processing of steps S131 and S132 can include a process of determining whether the silent mode described above is ON or not, and if the silent mode is ON, setting the curtain speed to Low.

As a result of arbitration of the three parameters of shutter speed, curtain speed, and frame speed as described above, the control unit 95 selects the hybrid running mode when the curtain speed=Hi, and selects the spring running mode when the frame speed=Hi.
As a specific example, when the curtain speed is determined to be Hi in step S104 or S121, the hybrid driving mode is selected. Also, when the curtain speed is set to Hi in step S113 or S131, the hybrid driving mode is selected.
Alternatively, for example, if the top speed is determined to be Hi in step S110 or S128, the spring running mode is selected, and also if the top speed is set to Hi in step S126, the spring running mode is selected.

In this case, the selection of the spring travel mode in response to the frame speed being set to Hi in step S126 as described above can be expressed as follows: That is, if there is no designation to increase the curtain speed to a predetermined speed or higher (S121: N) and the frame speed setting is AUTO (the frame speed is set to be automatically selected) (S125: Y), the spring travel mode is selected.
Furthermore, the selection of the hybrid running mode in response to the setting of the curtain speed to Hi in step S113 as described above can be said to mean that the hybrid running mode is selected when there is no designation to increase the frame speed to a predetermined speed or higher (S110: N) and the setting for automatic curtain speed selection is made (S112: Y).
Through these processes, an appropriate driving mode is selected according to the user's intentions.

Even when performing slit exposure, it is meaningful to increase the curtain speed. In other words, if the curtain speed is faster, the slit width can be increased accordingly even with the same SS, and such an increase in the slit width leads to a reduction in uneven exposure and an improvement in the quality of the captured image.

Here, in the above description, an example in which the capacitor 102 is provided has been described, but in cases where the imaging device 1 uses an external power supply such as a commercial AC power supply as a power supply, for example, providing the capacitor 102 is not essential.
If the capacitor 102 is not provided, there is no need to consider the charging wait time of the capacitor 102. In other words, the top speed can be made equal in the hybrid running mode and in the spring running mode.
Even if the capacitor 102 is not provided, by switching between the hybrid driving mode and the driving mode, it is possible to switch from a driving mode in which the opening and closing blades run at a high speed to a driving mode in which the opening and closing blades run at a low speed, thereby improving noise reduction and extending the life of the blade opening and closing device.

[2-5. First modified example]

Hereinafter, examples of a configuration (first to third modified examples) for adjusting the charging time of the capacitor 102 as a control separate from the switching of the driving mode will be described.
In the first modified example, the charging current of the capacitor 102 is adjusted based on the remaining charge of the battery 98, thereby realizing adjustment of the charging time of the capacitor 102 according to the remaining charge of the battery 98, that is, adjustment of the continuous shooting speed.

FIG. 36 shows an example of the circuit configuration of a drive system of the magnetic drive unit 27 in the imaging device 1 as the first modified example.
In the following description, parts that are similar to parts that have already been described will be given the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.
As shown in the figure, in the drive system in this case, a control circuit 104 is provided in the shutter motor driver unit 99. The control circuit 104 performs constant current control on the output current of the DC/DC converter 101 (i.e., the charging current of the capacitor 102). Specifically, in this example, the DC/DC converter 101 is configured as a switching regulator, and the control circuit 104 is configured to perform PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control of the switching operation of a switching element that turns on and off the input voltage in the DC/DC converter 101, and also performs control to adjust the ON duty (or OFF duty) of the switching element so that the value (current value) of the output current of the DC/DC converter 101 becomes constant at a target value It.

In this case, the control unit 95 acquires a value (e.g., SOC: charging rate) indicating the remaining amount (remaining charge amount) of the battery 98, and variably sets the target value It of the constant current control by the control circuit 104 according to the acquired value. Specifically, the target value It is set higher as the remaining amount of the battery 98 increases (i.e., the value of the charging current of the capacitor 102 is increased), etc.
For example, the adjustment of the target value It in this case can be made using a threshold value for the remaining capacity of the battery 98, specifically, for example, an adjustment can be made such that when the value indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 98 is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a first value is set as the target value It, and when the value falls below the threshold value, a second value (<first value) is set as the target value It. Alternatively, an adjustment method can be considered in which a table or function indicating the correspondence between the value indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 98 and the target value It is used to set the target value It according to the value indicating the remaining capacity.

By adjusting the charging current of the capacitor 102 based on the remaining charge of the battery 98 in this manner, the frame speed can be adjusted according to the remaining charge of the battery 98 .
FIG. 37 is a diagram for explaining an image of the adjustment, and the solid lines in the diagram represent the image of the adjustment as the first modified example.
In the illustrated example of adjustment, the charging current of the capacitor 102 is increased as the remaining charge of the battery 98 increases, so that the frame speed becomes faster.
In this case, the charging current of the capacitor 102 is low in the region where the remaining charge of the battery 98 is low, i.e., the load on the battery 98 is light. If the battery 98 is heavily loaded with a low remaining charge, the output voltage will drop due to a voltage drop caused by the internal resistance of the battery 98, and there is a risk that the output voltage will drop below the reset voltage. By adjusting the charging current to decrease in accordance with the decrease in the remaining charge of the battery 98 as in the illustrated adjustment example, it is possible to prevent the output voltage of the battery 98 from decreasing unnecessarily.

Here, in Fig. 37, for comparison, the case where the adjustment according to the first modified example is not performed is shown by a dashed line. When the adjustment according to the first modified example is not performed, the charging current of the capacitor 102 is determined by the torque of the motor serving as the magnetic drive unit 27, the impedance of the motor, etc., and the frame speed performance is also determined according to these factors. Therefore, even if the battery 98 has a large remaining charge and has a sufficient power supply capacity, the frame speed performance is not fully utilized.
In contrast, by carrying out the adjustment according to the first modified example, it is possible to fully utilize the frame speed performance according to the remaining charge of the battery 98.

Furthermore, as shown by the dotted line in Figure 37, in the region where the remaining charge of the battery 98 is low (below a predetermined value), adjustment can be made to keep the frame speed constant (i.e., keep the charging current of the capacitor 102 constant) as the remaining charge of the battery 98 decreases.

[2-6. Second modified example]

In the second modified example, the charging voltage of the capacitor 102 is adjusted to adjust the magnitude of the output (motor output) of the magnetic drive unit 27 and also adjust the charging time of the capacitor 102 .
FIG. 38 is a diagram for explaining an image of adjustment as the second modified example.
38A, to increase the curtain speed, the charging voltage of capacitor 102 is increased. This increases the drive voltage of magnetic drive unit 27, and the output of magnetic drive unit 27 increases, making it possible to increase the curtain speed.
On the other hand, in order to increase the frame speed, as shown in Fig. 38B, the charging voltage of the capacitor 102 is lowered to shorten the charging time of the capacitor 102. By shortening the charging time, the frame speed can be improved.

FIG. 39 shows an example of the circuit configuration of a drive system of the magnetic drive unit 27 in the imaging device 1 as the second modified example.
In this driving system, the DC/DC converter 101 is configured to be able to change the value of the output voltage (voltage value). In this case, the control unit 95 issues instructions to the DC/DC converter 101 to adjust the value of the output voltage.

For example, if it is desired to increase the strobe synchronization speed, it is possible to increase the output voltage of the DC/DC converter 101, i.e., the charging voltage of the capacitor 102, thereby increasing the output of the magnetic drive unit 27. On the other hand, if it is desired to increase the frame speed during imaging involving strobe emission, it is possible to reduce the output voltage of the DC/DC converter 101, i.e., the charging voltage of the capacitor 102, thereby shortening the charging time.
By making such adjustments, it becomes possible to select the optimum shutter performance for each scene, such as increasing the strobe synchronization speed or increasing the frame rate, and it becomes possible to perform imaging with a high degree of freedom using a single imaging device 1.

40 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between curtain speed and frame speed in the second modified example, where the plot of white circles in the diagram represents said relationship. For comparison, the curtain speed and frame speed in the case where the adjustment of the second modified example is not performed are represented by black circles in the diagram.

[2-7. Third modified example]

In the third modified example, the drive current of the magnetic drive unit 27 is adjusted to adjust the magnitude of the output of the magnetic drive unit 27 and also adjust the charging time of the capacitor 102 .
FIG. 41 is a diagram for explaining an image of adjustment as the third modified example.
To increase the curtain speed, increase the drive current of magnetic drive unit 27. When the drive current of magnetic drive unit 27 is increased, the amount of discharge current of capacitor 102 increases while the voltage of capacitor 102 decreases, as shown in FIG.
By increasing the drive current of the magnetic drive unit 27, the output of the magnetic drive unit 27 increases, and the curtain speed can be increased.
On the other hand, when the frame speed is increased, the charging time of the capacitor 102 is shortened by decreasing the driving current of the magnetic driving unit 27, and the shortened charging time can improve the frame speed. As shown in Fig. 41B, when the driving current of the magnetic driving unit 27 is decreased, the amount of discharge current of the capacitor 102 decreases, while the voltage of the capacitor 102 increases.

FIG. 42 shows an example of the circuit configuration of a drive system of the magnetic drive unit 27 in the imaging device 1 as the third modified example.
In this case, the drive system uses, as the driver IC 103, a variable output current type driver IC capable of changing the output current to the magnetic drive unit 27. In this case, the control unit 95 issues instructions to the driver IC 103 to adjust the value of the output current to the magnetic drive unit 27, i.e., the value of the drive current of the magnetic drive unit 27.

[2-8. Fourth modified example]

In the fourth modification, the capacitor 102 is charged even during the discharging period of the capacitor 102 .
Figure 43 is a diagram for explaining the concept of the fourth modified example, where Figure 43A shows, for comparison, a case in which charging is not performed while capacitor 102 is being discharged, and Figure 43B shows the fourth modified example in which charging is performed even while capacitor 102 is being discharged.
By continuing to charge the capacitor 102 during the discharging period, the charging time for each release of the capacitor 102 is shortened, and as shown by the arrow X' in the figure, the waiting time until the release can be started is shortened, thereby increasing the frame speed.
Note that charging the capacitor 102 during the discharging period of the capacitor 102 can be said to be charging the capacitor 102 while the magnetic drive unit 27 is being driven.

Here, when charging capacitor 102 while it is being discharged (while magnetic drive unit 27 is being driven), it should be taken into consideration that the large power load generated while magnetic drive unit 27 is being driven may affect battery 98 and other devices connected to battery 98.
For this reason, in the fourth modified example, as shown in Figure 44, the aforementioned control circuit 104 is provided in the drive system of the magnetic drive unit 27, and constant current control is performed on the output current of the DC/DC converter 101, thereby preventing fluctuations in the load on the battery 98 as the magnetic drive unit 27 from affecting the battery 98 or other devices.
In FIG. 44, the control circuit 104 is provided to achieve a constant current. Alternatively, a constant current circuit may be provided in front of the DC/DC converter 101.

[2-9. About "imaging"]

In addition, in the present technology, “imaging” refers to a process that includes all or part of a series of processes, starting from photoelectric conversion processing by the image sensor 12, including conversion to a digital signal from photoelectric conversion processing by the image sensor 12, processing such as noise removal, image quality correction, and conversion to luminance and color difference signals by the camera signal processing unit 91, data specification conversion processing such as compression encoding and decompression decoding processing of the image signal based on a predetermined image data format by the image processing unit 92, and writing processing of the image signal by the recording control unit 94.
In addition, the order of each process in the above process may be changed as appropriate.

3. Summary of the embodiment

As described above, the first imaging device (1) as an embodiment includes an opening/closing blade (15) that runs in a direction to open and close an opening (13a) through which incident light passes onto an imaging surface, a motor (magnetic drive unit 27) that is arranged to be able to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, a running spring (40) that is arranged to be able to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, and a control unit (95) that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, and the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes having different power consumption of the motor as the running mode of the opening/closing blade.
This makes it possible for an imaging device in which the opening and closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring to switch from a driving mode in which the motor consumes high power to a driving mode in which it consumes low power, i.e., from a driving mode in which the opening and closing blades run at a high speed to a driving mode in which they run at a low speed.
Therefore, for an imaging device in which the opening and closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring, the opening and closing blades can be driven in a driving mode that can improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device. In other words, it is possible to improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device.

Furthermore, the first imaging device as the embodiment includes a capacitor (102) that serves as a drive power source for the motor.
By providing the above-mentioned capacitor, it is possible to increase the drive voltage of the motor and increase the travel speed of the opening and closing blades. Furthermore, since the time required to charge the capacitor can be shortened in a travel motor with low power consumption, a mode with a high continuous shooting speed can be realized.
Therefore, it is possible to switch between a traveling mode prioritizing traveling speed as a traveling mode with high motor power consumption and a traveling mode prioritizing continuous shooting speed as a traveling mode with low motor power consumption.

Furthermore, in the first imaging device as an embodiment, the control unit has a first driving mode and a second driving mode which are driving modes with different power consumption, the first driving mode is a mode in which both the motor and the running spring transmit the running power, and the second driving mode is a mode in which the running spring transmits the running power and the power consumption of the motor is lower than that in the first driving mode.
This makes it possible to switch the running mode of the opening and closing blades between a hybrid running mode, in which the opening and closing blades are driven by the power of both the motor and the running spring, and a spring running mode, in which the opening and closing blades can be considered to be driven only by the running spring (including cases where the motor slightly assists in driving the opening and closing blades).
Therefore, it is possible to switch between a hybrid running mode in which the running speed is prioritized, requiring a long charging time for the capacitor but enabling the running speed of the opening/closing blades to be increased, and a spring running mode in which the charging time for the capacitor is short and enabling the continuous shooting speed to be increased.

Furthermore, in a first imaging device as an embodiment, the running spring is charged by the power of the motor, and the control unit has a first running mode and a second running mode which are running modes with different power consumption, and the second running mode is a mode in which the capacitor is charged fewer times than the first running mode.
When the traveling spring is charged by the power of the motor, in order to enable the opening and closing blades to be driven by both the motor and the traveling spring, the capacitor needs to be charged twice, once to obtain the motor drive power for spring energy storage and once to obtain the motor drive power for driving the opening and closing blades. Therefore, in the above-mentioned first traveling mode, these two charges are performed to realize a traveling mode as a hybrid traveling mode, and in the second traveling mode, only the charging for spring energy storage is performed to realize a spring traveling mode in which the opening and closing blades are driven only by the traveling spring.
Therefore, it is possible to switch between a hybrid running mode, which requires more charging times of the capacitor but prioritizes the running speed of the opening and closing blades and can increase the running speed of the opening and closing blades, and a spring running mode, which requires less charging times of the capacitor and can increase the continuous shooting speed.

In the first imaging device as the embodiment, the control unit selects the travel mode based on any one of the parameters of the travel speed of the opening/closing blades, the continuous shooting speed, and the shutter speed.
For example, when the travel speed of the opening and closing blades is increased, a mode with high motor power consumption should be selected, when the continuous shooting speed is increased, a mode with low motor power consumption (i.e., a mode with short charging time) should be selected, and when the shutter speed is increased, a mode with high motor power consumption should be selected.
Therefore, by selecting a travel mode based on any one of the parameters of the travel speed of the opening and closing blades, the continuous shooting speed, or the shutter speed as described above, it is possible to select an appropriate travel mode according to the setting of the parameters related to image capture.

Furthermore, in the first image pickup apparatus as the embodiment, the control unit selects the travel mode based on the parameter of the shutter speed as the flash synchronization speed.
This makes it possible to improve the continuous shooting speed by selecting a driving mode with high motor power consumption when the strobe synchronization speed is a speed that cannot be achieved in a driving mode with low motor power consumption, and by selecting a driving mode with low motor power consumption when the strobe synchronization speed is a speed that can be achieved in a driving mode with low motor power consumption.
Therefore, with regard to imaging involving strobe light emission, imaging at a high strobe synchronization speed and imaging at a high continuous shooting speed can both be achieved with a single imaging device.

Furthermore, in the first imaging device as an embodiment, the control unit has, as driving modes, a first mode and a second mode in which the motor consumes less power than the first mode, and when there is no specification to increase the driving speed of the opening/closing blades to a predetermined speed or higher and a setting to automatically select the continuous shooting speed is made, the control unit selects the second mode as the driving mode.
This makes it possible to select a driving mode with low motor power consumption (i.e., a mode with a short charging time) when the setting is made to automatically select the continuous shooting speed when it is presumed that the user does not intend to increase the opening/closing blade travel speed.
Therefore, an appropriate driving mode can be selected according to the user's intention.

Furthermore, in the first imaging device as an embodiment, the control unit has, as driving modes, a first mode and a second mode in which the motor consumes less power than in the first mode, and when there is no specification to increase the continuous shooting speed to a predetermined speed or higher and a setting to automatically select the driving speed of the opening and closing blades is made, the control unit selects the first mode as the driving mode.
As a result, if the setting is made to automatically select the opening/closing blade travel speed when it is presumed that the user does not intend to increase the continuous shooting speed, it becomes possible to select a travel mode that consumes more motor power (i.e., a mode in which motor output is increased).
Therefore, an appropriate driving mode can be selected according to the user's intention.

Furthermore, in the first imaging device as the embodiment, the control unit performs control for adjusting the charging time of the capacitor, which is a control separate from the switching of the driving mode.
By adjusting the charging time of the capacitor, it is possible to change the time required from the start of a release until the next release can be started, i.e., it is possible to change the continuous shooting speed, and it is also possible to change the output of the motor, which makes it possible to change the running speed of the opening and closing blades.
Therefore, the degree of freedom in adjusting the continuous shooting speed and the travel speed of the opening/closing blades can be improved.

Furthermore, in the first image pickup apparatus according to the embodiment, the control unit adjusts the charging current of the capacitor based on the remaining charge of the battery (98) which is the operating power source of the image pickup apparatus.
This makes it possible to increase the value of the charging current to increase the running speed of the opening and closing blades when the battery has a large remaining charge and sufficient power supply capacity, and to reduce the value of the charging current to prevent the battery output voltage from decreasing unnecessarily when the battery has a small remaining charge and does not have sufficient power supply capacity.
Therefore, the travel speed of the opening/closing blades can be appropriately adjusted according to the remaining battery charge.

In the first imaging device according to the embodiment, the control unit performs control to adjust the charging voltage of the capacitor.
By adjusting the charging voltage of the capacitor, the magnitude of the motor output, i.e., the travel speed of the opening and closing blades, is adjusted, and by adjusting the charging time of the capacitor, the continuous shooting speed is adjusted.
Therefore, the degree of freedom in adjusting the continuous shooting speed and the travel speed of the opening/closing blades can be improved.

Furthermore, in the first imaging device as the embodiment, the control unit performs control to adjust the drive current of the motor.
By adjusting the drive current of the motor, the magnitude of the motor output, that is, the travel speed of the opening and closing blades, is adjusted, and by adjusting the charging time of the capacitor, the continuous shooting speed is adjusted.
Therefore, the degree of freedom in adjusting the continuous shooting speed and the travel speed of the opening/closing blades can be improved.

Furthermore, in the first imaging device as the embodiment, the capacitor is charged even during the period in which the capacitor is being discharged.
This shortens the waiting period until release can begin.
Therefore, the continuous shooting speed can be improved.

A first control method as an embodiment is a control method for an imaging device that includes an opening/closing blade that travels in a direction to open and close an opening through which incident light on an imaging surface passes, a motor arranged to be able to transmit travel power to the opening/closing blade, a travel spring arranged to be able to transmit travel power to the opening/closing blade, and a control unit that controls the travel of the opening/closing blade, in which the control unit switches between a plurality of travel modes having different power consumption of the motor as the travel mode of the opening/closing blade.
With this first control method as well, it is possible to obtain the same functions and effects as with the first imaging device described above.

In addition, a second imaging device (same 1) as an embodiment includes an opening/closing blade that runs in an opening/closing direction that opens and closes an opening through which incident light to an imaging surface passes, a motor arranged to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, a running spring arranged to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, and a control unit that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, and the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes having different running speeds for the opening/closing blade as the running mode of the opening/closing blade.
This makes it possible to switch from a running mode in which the opening/closing blades travel at a high speed to a running mode in which the opening/closing blades travel at a low speed in an imaging device in which the opening/closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring.
Therefore, for an imaging device in which the opening and closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring, the opening and closing blades can be driven in a driving mode that can improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device. In other words, it is possible to improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device.

A second control method as an embodiment is a control method for an imaging device that includes an opening/closing blade that runs in an opening/closing direction that opens and closes an opening through which incident light to an imaging surface passes, a motor that is arranged to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, a running spring that is arranged to transmit running power to the opening/closing blade, and a control unit that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, in which the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes having different running speeds for the opening/closing blade as the running mode for the opening/closing blade.
With this second control method as well, it is possible to obtain the same functions and effects as with the second imaging device described above.

In addition, a third imaging device (same as 1) as an embodiment includes an opening/closing blade that moves in an opening/closing direction to open and close an aperture, a motor (magnetic drive unit 27) having a coil (same as 31) to which a drive current is supplied, a magnet (same as 32) that rotates as current is passed through the coil, and a rotor gear (same as 33) that rotates as the magnet rotates, a drive body (same as 34) that has a drive gear (same as 35) that meshes with the rotor gear and rotates synchronously with the magnet in the opposite direction, a running spring (same as 40) that applies a biasing force in one direction in the opening/closing direction to the opening/closing blade via the drive body, a blade opening/closing unit (blade opening/closing device 11) in which the opening/closing blade moves in the opening/closing direction as the drive body rotates, and a control unit (same as 95) that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, and the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes with different power consumption of the motor as the running mode of the opening/closing blade.
In the blade opening/closing unit having the above configuration, the opening/closing blades can be moved by the driving force of the motor generated by energizing the coil and the biasing force of the traveling spring in the driving body. Also, the above control unit enables the imaging device capable of driving the opening/closing blades by both the motor and the spring to switch from a traveling mode with high motor power consumption to a traveling mode with low motor power consumption, i.e., from a traveling mode with a high traveling speed of the opening/closing blades to a traveling mode with a low traveling speed.
Therefore, for an imaging device in which the opening and closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring, the opening and closing blades can be driven in a driving mode that can improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device. In other words, it is possible to improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device.

Furthermore, a fourth imaging device of the embodiment (same 1) includes an opening/closing blade that moves in an opening/closing direction to open and close an aperture, a motor having a coil to which a drive current is supplied, a magnet that rotates as current is passed through the coil, and a rotor gear that rotates as the magnet rotates, a drive body that has a drive gear that meshes with the rotor gear and rotates synchronously in the opposite direction to the magnet, a running spring that imparts a biasing force in one direction in the opening/closing direction to the opening/closing blade via the drive body, and the opening/closing blade is operated in the opening/closing direction as the drive body rotates, and a control unit that controls the running of the opening/closing blade, and the control unit switches between a plurality of running modes having different running speeds for the opening/closing blade as the running mode of the opening/closing blade.
In the blade opening/closing unit having the above configuration, the opening/closing blades can be caused to travel by the driving force of the motor generated by energizing the coil and the biasing force of the travel spring in the driver. Also, the above control unit makes it possible to switch from a travel mode in which the opening/closing blades travel at a high speed to a travel mode in which the opening/closing blades travel at a low speed for an imaging device in which the opening/closing blades can be driven by both the motor and the spring.
Therefore, for an imaging device in which the opening and closing blades can be driven by both a motor and a spring, the opening and closing blades can be driven in a driving mode that can improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device. In other words, it is possible to improve noise reduction and extend the life of the blade opening and closing device.

It should be noted that the effects described in this specification are merely examples and are not limiting, and other effects may also be obtained.

<4. This Technology>

The present technology can also be configured as follows.
(1)
an opening/closing blade that travels in a direction to open and close an opening through which incident light passes onto an imaging surface;
a motor provided so as to be capable of transmitting driving power to the opening/closing blade;
A running spring that is provided so as to be capable of transmitting running power to the opening/closing blade;
A control unit that controls the travel of the opening and closing blades,
The control unit is
The imaging device further comprises: a driving mode for the opening/closing blades, the driving modes being switched among a plurality of driving modes each having a different power consumption of the motor.
(2)
The imaging device according to (1), further comprising a capacitor that serves as a driving power source for the motor.
(3)
The control unit is
The driving modes having different power consumption include a first driving mode and a second driving mode,
The imaging device described in (2), wherein the first driving mode is a mode in which both the motor and the running spring transmit the driving power, and the second driving mode is a mode in which the running spring transmits the driving power and the power consumption of the motor is lower than that of the first driving mode.
(4)
The traveling spring is energized by the power of the motor,
The control unit is
The driving modes having different power consumption include a first driving mode and a second driving mode,
The imaging device according to (2) or (3), wherein the first driving mode is a mode in which the capacitor is charged a smaller number of times than the second driving mode.
(5)
The control unit is
The imaging device according to any one of (2) to (4), wherein the travel mode is selected based on any one of parameters of a travel speed of the opening/closing blades, a continuous shooting speed, and a shutter speed.
(6)
The control unit is
The imaging device according to (5), wherein the driving mode is selected based on a parameter of a shutter speed as a strobe synchronization speed.
(7)
The control unit is
The driving modes include a first mode and a second mode in which the power consumption of the motor is lower than that in the first mode,
The imaging device described in any one of (2) to (6), wherein when there is no designation to increase the travel speed of the opening/closing blades to a predetermined speed or higher and a setting to automatically select a continuous shooting speed is performed, the second mode is selected as the travel mode.
(8)
The control unit is
The driving modes include a first mode and a second mode in which the power consumption of the motor is lower than that in the first mode,
The imaging device described in any one of (2) to (7) above, wherein when the continuous shooting speed is not specified to be increased to a predetermined speed or higher and a setting is made to automatically select the travel speed of the opening and closing blades, the first mode is selected as the travel mode.
(9)
The control unit is
The imaging device according to any one of (2) to (8), further comprising a control for adjusting a charging time of the capacitor as a control separate from the switching of the driving mode.
(10)
The control unit is
The imaging device according to (9), wherein control is performed to adjust a charging current of the capacitor based on a remaining capacity of a battery that is an operating power source of the imaging device.
(11)
The control unit is
The imaging device according to (9) or (10), further comprising a control for adjusting a charging voltage of the capacitor.
(12)
The control unit is
The imaging device according to any one of (9) to (11), further comprising a control for adjusting a drive current of the motor.
(13)
The imaging device according to any one of (2) to (12), wherein the capacitor is charged even during a discharging period of the capacitor.

1 imaging device, 4 shutter button, 3 flash (strobe), 10 optical system, 11 blade opening/closing device (blade opening/closing unit), 12 imaging element, 13a aperture, 15 opening/closing blade, 27 magnetic drive unit (motor), 31 coil, 32 magnet, 33 rotor gear, 34 drive body, 35 drive gear, 40 running spring, 56 electromagnet, 95 control unit, 96 driver unit, 97 operation unit, 98 battery 99 shutter motor driver unit, 100 spring driver unit, 101 DC/DC converter, 102 capacitor, 103 driver IC, 104 control circuit

Claims (15)

an opening/closing blade that travels in a direction to open and close an opening through which incident light passes onto an imaging surface;
a motor provided so as to be capable of transmitting driving power to the opening/closing blade;
A running spring that is provided so as to be capable of transmitting running power to the opening/closing blade;
A control unit that controls the travel of the opening and closing blades ;
a capacitor that serves as a driving power source for the motor ;
The control unit is
As a travel mode of the opening/closing blades, a mode is switched among a plurality of travel modes having different power consumptions of the motor,
The driving modes having different power consumption include a first driving mode and a second driving mode,
The first traveling mode is a mode in which both the motor and the traveling spring transmit the traveling power, and the second traveling mode is a mode in which the traveling spring transmits the traveling power and the power consumption of the motor is lower than that of the first traveling mode,
The traveling spring is energized by the power of the motor,
The second driving mode is a mode in which the number of times the capacitor is charged is smaller than that in the first driving mode.
Imaging device. The control unit is
The imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein the travel mode is selected based on any one of a travel speed of the opening/closing blades, a continuous shooting speed, and a shutter speed. The control unit is
The imaging device according to claim 2 , wherein the driving mode is selected based on a parameter of a shutter speed as a flash synchronization speed. The control unit is
The imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein when the travel speed of the opening/closing blades is not specified to be increased to a predetermined speed or higher and a setting is made to automatically select a continuous shooting speed, the second travel mode is selected as the travel mode. The control unit is
2. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein when the continuous shooting speed is not specified to be increased to a predetermined speed or higher and a setting is made to automatically select the travel speed of the opening/closing blades, the first travel mode is selected as the travel mode. The control unit is
The imaging device according to claim 1 , further comprising a control for adjusting a charging time of the capacitor, which is performed separately from the switching of the driving mode. The control unit is
The imaging device according to claim 6 , further comprising a control for adjusting a charging current of the capacitor based on a remaining charge of a battery that is an operating power source of the imaging device. The control unit is
The imaging device according to claim 6 , further comprising a control for adjusting a charging voltage of the capacitor. The control unit is
The imaging device according to claim 6 , further comprising a control for adjusting a drive current of the motor. The imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein the capacitor is charged even during a period in which the capacitor is discharged. an opening/closing blade that travels in a direction to open and close an opening through which incident light passes onto an imaging surface;
a motor provided so as to be capable of transmitting driving power to the opening/closing blade;
A running spring that is provided so as to be capable of transmitting running power to the opening/closing blade;
A control unit that controls the travel of the opening and closing blades ;
a capacitor that serves as a driving power source for the motor ,
The control unit:
As a travel mode of the opening/closing blades, a mode is switched among a plurality of travel modes having different power consumptions of the motor,
The driving modes having different power consumption include a first driving mode and a second driving mode,
The first traveling mode is a mode in which both the motor and the traveling spring transmit the traveling power, and the second traveling mode is a mode in which the traveling spring transmits the traveling power and the power consumption of the motor is lower than that of the first traveling mode,
The traveling spring is energized by the power of the motor,
The second driving mode is a mode in which the number of times the capacitor is charged is smaller than that in the first driving mode.
Control methods. an opening/closing blade that travels in an opening/closing direction that opens and closes an opening through which incident light passes onto an imaging surface;
a motor provided so as to be capable of transmitting driving power to the opening/closing blade;
A running spring that is provided so as to be capable of transmitting running power to the opening/closing blade;
A control unit that controls the travel of the opening and closing blades ;
a capacitor that serves as a driving power source for the motor ;
The control unit is
As a travel mode of the opening/closing blades, a mode is switched between a plurality of travel modes having different travel speeds of the opening/closing blades,
The driving modes have a first driving mode and a second driving mode, each of which has different power consumption of the motor;
The first traveling mode is a mode in which both the motor and the traveling spring transmit the traveling power, and the second traveling mode is a mode in which the traveling spring transmits the traveling power and the power consumption of the motor is lower than that of the first traveling mode,
The traveling spring is energized by the power of the motor,
The second driving mode is a mode in which the number of times the capacitor is charged is smaller than that in the first driving mode.
Imaging device. an opening/closing blade that travels in an opening/closing direction that opens and closes an opening through which incident light passes onto an imaging surface;
a motor provided so as to be capable of transmitting driving power to the opening/closing blade;
A running spring that is provided so as to be capable of transmitting running power to the opening/closing blade;
A control unit that controls the travel of the opening and closing blades ;
a capacitor that serves as a driving power source for the motor ,
The control unit:
As a travel mode of the opening/closing blades, a mode is switched between a plurality of travel modes having different travel speeds of the opening/closing blades,
The driving modes have a first driving mode and a second driving mode, each of which has different power consumption of the motor;
The first traveling mode is a mode in which both the motor and the traveling spring transmit the traveling power, and the second traveling mode is a mode in which the traveling spring transmits the traveling power and the power consumption of the motor is lower than that of the first traveling mode,
The traveling spring is energized by the power of the motor,
The second driving mode is a mode in which the number of times the capacitor is charged is smaller than that in the first driving mode.
Control methods. an opening/closing blade that is operated in an opening/closing direction to open and close the opening;
a motor having a coil to which a driving current is supplied, a magnet that rotates when the coil is energized, and a rotor gear that rotates when the magnet rotates;
a driving body having a driving gear meshed with the rotor gear and rotated in a direction opposite to that of the magnet in synchronization with the magnet;
a running spring that applies a biasing force in one direction in the opening and closing direction to the opening and closing blade via the driving body,
a blade opening/closing unit in which the opening/closing blades are moved in the opening/closing direction in accordance with the rotational movement of the driver;
A control unit that controls the travel of the opening and closing blades ;
a capacitor that serves as a driving power source for the motor ;
The control unit is
As a travel mode of the opening/closing blades, a mode is switched among a plurality of travel modes having different power consumptions of the motor,
The driving modes having different power consumption include a first driving mode and a second driving mode,
The first traveling mode is a mode in which both the motor and the traveling spring transmit traveling power, and the second traveling mode is a mode in which the traveling spring transmits traveling power and the power consumption of the motor is lower than that of the first traveling mode,
The traveling spring is energized by the power of the motor,
The second driving mode is a mode in which the number of times the capacitor is charged is smaller than that in the first driving mode.
Imaging device. an opening/closing blade that is operated in an opening/closing direction to open and close the opening;
a motor having a coil to which a driving current is supplied, a magnet that rotates when the coil is energized, and a rotor gear that rotates when the magnet rotates;
a driving body having a driving gear meshed with the rotor gear and rotated in a direction opposite to that of the magnet in synchronization with the magnet;
a running spring that applies a biasing force in one direction in the opening and closing direction to the opening and closing blade via the driving body,
a blade opening/closing unit in which the opening/closing blades are moved in the opening/closing direction in accordance with the rotational movement of the driver;
A control unit that controls the travel of the opening and closing blades ;
a capacitor that serves as a driving power source for the motor ;
The control unit is
As a travel mode of the opening/closing blades, a mode is switched between a plurality of travel modes having different travel speeds of the opening/closing blades,
The driving modes have a first driving mode and a second driving mode, each of which has different power consumption of the motor;
The first traveling mode is a mode in which both the motor and the traveling spring transmit traveling power, and the second traveling mode is a mode in which the traveling spring transmits traveling power and the power consumption of the motor is lower than that of the first traveling mode,
The traveling spring is energized by the power of the motor,
The second driving mode is a mode in which the number of times the capacitor is charged is smaller than that in the first driving mode.
Imaging device.

Images