JPS5937801B2 - sliding binoculars - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to binoculars in which interpupillary distance adjustment is performed by sliding mirror bodies in the horizontal direction.

When using binoculars, there are various methods for adjusting the distance between the eyepieces of the binoculars to match the interpupillary distance of the user.

For example, there are those that do not change the distance between the left and right mirrors, but adjust the distance using only the eyepiece via a trapezoidal prism, and those that are used in many popular connoct binoculars. There are mirrors that are pivoted on one axis and both mirrors are opened and closed around that axis, and the interpupillary distance is adjusted by adjusting the opening angle.
There are also two-axis types in which each mirror body is supported by its own axis in the bridge part. However, the first of these methods has a larger and more complicated structure and is more expensive, making it difficult to use in general binoculars. It is common to have a foldable configuration, using the interpupillary distance adjustment mechanism and setting its minimum position to the folded state, but with this uniaxial or biaxial pivoting system, there is still room for mistakes in terms of thickness when folded. This is what was left behind.

From this point of view, sliding binoculars, ie, those in which the mirror body is moved in parallel in the horizontal direction, are known.

With the sliding method, when folded, the thickness can in principle be reduced to the thickness of a mirror body, and it can also be expected to be more compact in the width direction than conventional single- or dual-axis pivots. . Furthermore, there is no change in the thickness direction of the binoculars in any case when adjusting the interpupillary distance or folding.
Excellent in operability and appearance. However, despite having the above-mentioned characteristics, general-use binoculars that adopt the slide method are hardly ever put into practical use.

A major reason for this is that a practical sliding mechanism has not been developed. The most important point of the slide mechanism is to change the distance between the optical axes while keeping both optical axes parallel. According to the JIS standard, the range in which interpupillary distance can be adjusted is 60 to 70, and the optical axis deviation within this range is within a few minutes in actual angle. A mirror body sliding mechanism had not yet been realized. In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a highly productive mirror sliding mechanism that is simple, inexpensive, and reliable in maintaining accuracy.

The main part of the structure of the slide mechanism that achieves this purpose is to provide a guide member fixed to each mirror body of the binoculars, and to bring the guide members into contact with each other by the elastic force of the biasing means. By making the guide members directly cooperate with each other, it is possible to achieve high accuracy with a simple configuration. By using such a configuration as a basis, various effective embodiments can be obtained, and for example, a focus adjustment mechanism can be easily put together. Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows the base portion of a mirror according to an embodiment of the present invention, and for convenience, the upper part of the drawing is the eyepiece side, 1 is the left eye mirror, and 2 is the right eye mirror.

For example, die-cast molded products are suitable for these mirror bodies. Reference numerals 11 and 21 indicate arm members fixed to the mirror bodies 1 and 2, respectively, as mirror body slide guide means.

Coil springs 31 and 32 are suspended between the arm members 11 and 21, and apply a biasing force so that the arm members are pressed against each other. Therefore, the protruding piece 11a that protrudes downward near the tip of the arm member 11 is in opposing sliding contact with the upper end surface of the arm member 21, and the protruding piece 2 that protrudes upward near the tip of the arm member 21
1a is in sliding contact with the lower end surface of the arm member 11. In other words, when at least one of the mirror bodies is slid, the arm members and protrusions that are integrated with each mirror body cooperate directly with each other, ensuring the parallelism of the optical axes of both eyes in a plane that includes the optical axes of both eyes. can be maintained. In this case, the protrusions 11a and 21a may be deleted, and the lower and upper end surfaces of each arm member may be brought into sliding contact as they are. Guide plates 12 and 22 are further formed on the left and right mirror bodies 1 and 2 as auxiliary guide means.

The guide plates 12 and 22 receive the arm members 11 and 21 on their plate surfaces, and function to prevent angular deviation of both the left and right optical axes in the downward direction. In addition, a part of the outer wall of the left and right mirror bodies was cut off,
On the other hand, it can be used as a guide surface for the arm member of the mirror body, and the thickness of the arm member can be included within the outer diameter of the mirror body. If the arm members 11 and 21 are configured as plate-like members in this way,
This is a preferable embodiment from the viewpoint of maintaining accuracy because it does not increase the thickness of the binoculars and the plate surface portion can be widely used as a guide surface.

In the figure, 40 indicates the arm members 11, 21 and the guide plate 12,
22, and is a support plate for holding these from the plate surface direction, and has screws 41 installed therein. Together with the stop plate 45, the spring washer 47, and the nut 48, which are tightened through the screws 41, they constitute a clamping means. The support plate 40 is arranged on the back side of the arm members 11, 21, etc., and screws 41
protrudes toward the surface from the gap between the arm members. This screw 41
A stop plate 45 having slots 46a and 46b is loosely inserted therethrough and tightened with a nut 48 via a spring washer 47. Arm members 11 and 21 are installed in the slots of the stop plate 45.
Planted pins 11b and 21b are engaged on the top. Such a clamping means can apply friction by the spring washer 47 to both arm members when the left and right mirrors are slid. That is, if the load during sliding changes too much, there is a risk that even if the interpupillary distance is once adjusted, it will collapse inadvertently, and the above-mentioned clamping means has the effect of preventing this. Further, the degree of friction can be easily adjusted by adjusting the nut 48. In addition, by making the positions of the pins 11b and 21b on both arm members symmetrical with respect to the screw 41 that is inserted through the center between the mirror bodies, the stop plate 45 can be secured around the screw 41 even when the mirror body is slid. The support plate 41 only rotates, and the position of the support plate 41 remains constant at the center between both mirror bodies.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing this, in which the pins 1 and 2 on the arm members 11 and 21 are moved by sliding the mirror bodies 1 and 2.
1b and 21b rotate the stop plate 45 while moving within the slot of the stop upper 45. and support plate 40
continues to be located at the center between both mirror bodies, and by utilizing this, the following embodiments can be further obtained. FIG. 3 shows an effective focusing mechanism added to the embodiments described above.

The part indicated by a one-point focal line in the figure is a mirror body including the arm member or guide plate described above, and will be described as a mechanism seen from the back side of FIG. 1. In addition, the same reference numerals are used for parts that are common to the embodiments described here.
Part of the right mirror body is omitted. In the same figure, reference numeral 40 denotes the aforementioned support plate, and the arm members 11 extending from the left and right mirror bodies,
The guide plates 12 and 22 are arranged in parallel so as to straddle the guide plates 12 and 22 and wrap them. The support plate 40 is provided with a control plate 50 that is movable in the vertical direction. Reference numeral 52 denotes a focusing wheel, and the vertical position of the control plate 50 is determined by rotation of this wheel.

Reference numeral 60 denotes an actuating plate which carries an objective lens frame 65 at one end, and is movable along the outer wall of the mirror body 1 by a suitable means such as a pin slot.

The actuating plate 60 further includes an arm portion 61 which engages the end 55 of the control plate 50 described above. Note that this engagement is elastically maintained by a coil spring 68 suspended between the two. According to the above configuration, operations of the binoculars including focus adjustment are performed as follows.

First, the user slides the left and right mirrors in order to adjust the distance between the left and right mirrors to match his/her interpupillary distance. Thereafter, pit alignment is performed with respect to the target object, and for this purpose the focusing wheel 52 is rotated. As a result, the control plate 50 moves either up or down, pushing the actuating plate arm 61, that is, the actuating plate 60 upward via the end 55, or attaching the coil spring 38 to the lowering control plate 50. The actuating plate 60 is driven by the force. Although the above operation has been described only for the left eye mechanism, it goes without saying that the right eye mechanism operates in exactly the same manner. Therefore, by rotating the focusing wheel 52, the left and right objective lenses move forward and backward equally, and the focus of both eyes is adjusted. If there is a difference in diopter between the left and right sides of the user, it is sufficient to adjust the diopter by operating an eyepiece (not shown). A major feature of the focus adjustment mechanism described here is that in order to adjust the interpupillary distance by sliding the mirror body, the actuating plate 60 that moves along the outer wall of the mirror body is also slid in pairs. The shape of the plate 60 is unique.

That is, the actuation plate 60 requires an arm portion 61 extending in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the binoculars. Although focus adjustment is possible even if this arm 61 does not necessarily extend perpendicular to the optical axis, if it is perpendicular to the optical axis, the focus adjustment state will not change even if the interpupillary distance is adjusted after focus adjustment has been performed. It's advantageous. Note that the objective lens frame 65 connected to one end of the actuating plate 60 does not necessarily include all objective lens systems, and may only include an optical system that contributes to focus adjustment. It goes without saying that the focus can be adjusted by moving the optical system back and forth. As described above, the present invention is a practical slide mechanism for binoculars that achieves interpupillary distance adjustment by sliding the left and right mirrors, and that is highly productive and highly accurate. Therefore, it can be used not only for popular compact binoculars but also for those requiring high precision, and there is no disadvantage in manufacturing cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a binocular body to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a focus adjustment mechanism installed in binoculars to which the present invention is applied. 1...Left eye mirror body, 2
...Right eye side mirror body, 11, 21... Arm member, 12, 22... Guide plate, 31, 32...
... Coil spring, 40 ... Support plate,
45...Stopping plate, 47...Spring washer, 48...Nut, 50...Control plate, 52...Focus adjustment wheel , 60...
Actuation plate, 65...Objective lens frame.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. At least one of the mirror bodies of the binoculars is moved in parallel along a plane including both optical axes of the binoculars in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis to adjust the distance between the mirror bodies. In the sliding binoculars, guide means fixedly formed on each of the mirror bodies are provided, and biasing means for elastically abutting each of the guide means are provided, so that when the mirror bodies slide, the guide means are fixedly formed, and when the mirror bodies are slid, A sliding binoculars characterized in that the guide means directly cooperate with each other under the elastic action of the biasing means. 2. The sliding binoculars according to claim 1, wherein each of the guide means is constituted by a plate-like member extending toward the other mirror body, and the side end surfaces of the guide means are in sliding contact with each other. 3. The sliding binoculars according to claim 2, wherein auxiliary guide means that come into sliding contact with the plate surfaces of the respective plate-like members are fixed to both mirror bodies, respectively. 4. The sliding binoculars according to claim 2, further comprising a clamping means that straddles each of the plate-shaped members and clamps the plate-shaped members in a direction perpendicular to the plate surface. 5. The sliding binoculars according to claim 4, wherein a focus adjustment control member that is movable forward and backward along the optical axis is provided on the holding means.