JPH07107593B2 - Camera with data backup device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention, in a camera or the like capable of automatic focusing, saves state information data at the end of the previous camera operation in a data backup device, Next time, it relates to a camera having a data backup device that starts operation based on the data.

(Background of the Invention and Problems to be Solved by the Invention) A camera has been developed which performs automatic focus adjustment, automatic film winding, rewinding, automatic exposure adjustment, shutter release and the like based on a series of operation sequences.

In such a camera, when the main power of the camera is turned on, the camera needs to perform the next operation based on the state at the end of the previous operation.

Alternatively, it is desirable that it is guaranteed that the operation of the camera will not be hindered even if the operation is started from a step that is completely unrelated to the state at the end of the previous operation.

Next, an example of the expected state of the camera at the end of the previous operation will be given.

○ The state where the AF camera must initialize the lens position ○ The state in which a series of camera operations is completed and film winding is completed, and the camera moves to the next camera operating state ○ Film feeding (winding, The state where the main power switch is turned off during the (or rewinding) and it must be returned to the restarted state. ○ The state that the back cover is opened and closed to find the film cue ○ Camera operation In this state, for example, there is an abnormality in the mechanism and the main power switch is automatically turned off to prevent damage to the camera and other parts.For example, turn the main power switch off during the film rewind described above. When the operation is finished, if the operation is started from the usual winding to enter the shutter release, the film film taken last time is exposed again.

In order to solve such a problem, a configuration in which the state of the camera when the main power supply was turned off last time is stored in the electronic circuit of the camera and the operation is restarted from that state or the next state is considered. . However, even in such a case, in order to back up the memory with the power supply, it is necessary to constantly supply at least 2-3 μA to the memory unit. Then, an extra circuit configuration such as inserting a power hold interface between that portion and a circuit that does not cause a problem even when the power is turned off is required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a data backup device capable of saving state information data of the operating state of the camera used last time in a data bag in a camera capable of automatic focus adjustment and the like. Especially.

(Means for Solving Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a camera having a data backup device according to the present invention has a data back for recording a shooting date and time on a film and a power source for the data back on the camera body side. In the motor drive camera provided separately from the circuit and power supply of the camera, the main power switch on the camera side cuts the contents of the camera body side memory that records the progress status data of the operation of the circuit on the camera body side. Sometimes it is transferred to the backup memory provided in the data bag, and the next time the main power switch is turned on,
It is configured to transfer the data from the backup memory to the camera body side memory.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit of a camera having a data backup device according to the present invention.

The camera to which this embodiment is applied has a main circuit provided on the camera body side, and a data back (a circuit having a clock circuit and capable of imprinting a date etc.) on the back cover. It is provided.

The main circuits on the camera body side are an automatic exposure control module 5, an automatic focus adjustment module 6, a display module 7, a shutter and aperture drive circuit 8, a sequence control and calculation CPU 9, and a motor drive circuit 10.

An operating current is supplied to these circuits from the main power source 1 on the camera body side through the transistor 2.

The resistors 3 and 4 are bias resistors that give the base voltage of the transistor 2.

The automatic exposure control module 5 inputs the information of the brightness of the subject and the sensitivity of the film accommodated in the camera to the sequence control and calculation CPU 9 to calculate the data necessary for the automatic exposure control.

The shutter / diaphragm drive circuit 8 drives the shutter / diaphragm according to the arithmetic values obtained by the sequence control and arithmetic CPU 9.

The automatic focus adjustment module 6 inputs the information of the distance to the subject to the sequence control and calculation CPU 9 to calculate the data necessary for the automatic exposure control.

Based on this data, the motor drive circuit 10 drives the focus adjustment lens drive motor 12 to adjust the focus.

The motor 11 and the motor 13 are a film winding and rewinding motor and a zoom lens drive motor, respectively.

The focus adjustment state, the aperture value to be adjusted, the shutter speed, etc. are displayed by the display block 7.

The sequence control / arithmetic CPU 9 is provided with a memory 91 for performing the above-mentioned various arithmetic operations and controls and for storing data indicating in which state the camera is currently.

Examples of the data include lens information (AF or zoom position), film (winding, rewinding, automatic loading) state, and the like.

A main power switch 15 and a main power existence confirmation switch 16 are further provided on the camera body side.

A data back circuit 30 is provided on the case back side of the camera, and this circuit includes a backup memory 32 and a transistor 31 in addition to a clock circuit as a normal data back circuit.

The base of the transistor 45 is connected to the output of the data back circuit 30, and the collector of the transistor 45 is connected via the data imprinting lamp 43 to the main power source 1 on the camera body side.
It is connected to the.

Data imprint LC driven by data back circuit 30
The contents of D44 are recorded on the film by being illuminated by the data imprinting lamp 43.

The positive electrode of the data back battery 46 supplies an operating current to the data back circuit 30 via the diode 42.

The data back circuit 30 confirms and detects that the main power switch 15 is on, and turns on the transistor (T ₁ ) 31.

As a result, the output terminal O ₁ of the data back circuit 30 becomes low, and the transistor (T ₂ ) 2 is turned on.

When the transistor (T ₂ ) 2 is turned on, the sequence control and arithmetic CPU 9 of the circuit on the camera body side, the automatic exposure control module 5, the automatic focus adjustment module 6 and the like are connected to the main power source 1 and supplied with power.

When the voltage is supplied from the main power supply 1, the sequence control / arithmetic CPU 9 resets and starts, and the data in the backup memory 32 in the data back circuit 30 (camera state information, lens and lens barrel position information, etc.). Are taken into the memory 91 through the data transfer bus 20 (either serial transfer or parallel transfer is possible).

Then, the contents of the memory 91 of the sequence control and arithmetic CPU 9 are changed to the contents showing the same state as when the main power switch 15 was turned off last time.

Then, by operating a check switch and a release switch (not shown), distance measurement, photometry, and
A series of camera operations of shutter winding can be performed.

When the main power switch 15 is turned off, the input terminal I ₃ of the sequence control and arithmetic CPU 9 goes high, indicating that it has been turned off.
The CPU 9 confirms the status of the camera and the lens position information at that time through the data transfer bus 20 and the data back circuit 30.
Transfer data to.

The backup memory 32 of the data back circuit 30 stores the data.

Then, the command to turn off the transistor 31 is also sent to the data back circuit 30 through the data transfer bus 20, and the transistor 31 and the transistor 2 (T ₂ ) are turned off, that is, the power of the main circuit system is turned off. It is in a standby state in preparation for turning on the main power switch 15 for the next restart after stopping the operation.

The lens information includes the focal length information of the zoom lens,
There is distance information of the autofocus lens.

The information of the automatic focusing lens depends on the resolution accuracy,
For example, assuming that there are 8 bits (256 steps), encoding using a contact piece or the like becomes mechanically large, and since 256 resolution must be taken, it becomes complicated.

Therefore, if a photo interrupter is used to generate a pulse in synchronization with the movement of the lens, the structure is small and the accuracy is stable.

However, in this case, the number of pulses must be counted and stored, which is the sequence control and arithmetic CPU9.
It is possible, but it will be destroyed when the power is turned off.

In this case, the next time the power is turned on, it is necessary to move the lens once to infinity or close to initialize the counter memory, it is impossible to shoot immediately, and each time, the lens is moved by using the motor. And also lead to power loss.

Therefore, it is necessary to back up this information as autofocus lens information.

Also, in this system, the zoom lens also considers power zoom (motor drive), and the same can be said for the autofocus lens, so power zoom information (focal length information)
As, backing up is important.

In this apparatus, in the flash mode, the zoom information is used as guide number control information, and the autofocus lens information is also used as shutter time aperture value control information.

The main power source presence / absence confirmation switch 16 is a presence / absence confirmation switch for the main power source 1, which is operated in conjunction with the battery used as the main power source, and is turned on when the battery is not inserted.

After the camera operates normally, the main power switch 15 is turned off normally, and the backup information is stored.
If it is replaced or removed, there is no problem, but if the main power supply 1 is unintentionally forcibly removed during the operation of the camera, the data cannot be secured.

In such a case, the battery forming the main power supply 1 is put in next, the main power switch 15 is turned on, and even if the sequence control and operation CPU 9 is started up, the camera state and the lens position information are destroyed. , I can not return to the normal state.

Therefore, in the present invention, when the main power source presence / absence confirmation switch 16 is turned on except during the normal operation, the backup information is forcibly set to a constant state (for example, cleared to 0).

Then, when the main power supply 1 is inserted next and the main power supply switch 15 is turned on, sequence control and calculation are performed.
The CPU 9 reads the information of 0 clear at the rising edge.

As a result, the camera determines that the position and operation of the lens or the like on the camera side should be initialized, and the initialization is performed so that the normal operation is possible.

Normally, the main power supply voltage on the camera body side and the power supply voltage on the data back side are different.

The diodes 41 and 42 set the battery 46 for data back to 3V,
This is for the case where the voltage of the main power supply 1 is 6V, and when the transistor 2 is turned on, the data back circuit 30
Is also supplied from the main power supply 1, and the battery for data backing 46
This is to suppress the power loss of and to match the voltage of the data transfer bus 20.

The diode 14 starts from I ₁ when the transistor 31 turns off.
This is to prevent current from flowing to I ₃ .

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the above embodiment will be described focusing on the operation of the main power switch 15.

As described above, the data back circuit 30 constantly monitors the state of the main power switch 15, and when the main power switch 15 is pressed, the transistor 31 is turned on and the transistor 2 is turned on.

As a result, an operating current is supplied to the circuit on the camera body side.

As a result, the sequence control and arithmetic CPU 9 is reset and started.

Next, the sequence control and arithmetic CPU 9 is initialized.

Then, the backup information from the data back circuit 30
Read to U9 and shift to normal camera operation status.

(Normal camera operation) If the release switch is pressed,
The distance is measured by the automatic focus adjustment module 6, the lens is driven by the motor and stopped at the in-focus point, the light amount is measured by the automatic exposure control module 5, and the film is taken up after the proper exposure is given to the film by the shutter diaphragm. , Complete a series of operations.

When the main power switch 15 is turned off, the sequence control and arithmetic CPU 9 transfers data such as camera status and lens position information to the data back circuit 30.

When the completion of the transfer is confirmed, the command transfer with the transistor 31 turned off is performed.

When the transistor 31 and the transistor 2 are turned off, the process returns to the start and the standby state is formed.

Next, when the main power switch 15 is pressed, the transistor 31 is turned on, the transistor 2 is turned on, and the circuit is powered on in the same manner as described above.

Next, the operation of the main power source presence / absence confirmation switch 16 will be mainly described.

When the main power source existence confirmation switch 16 is turned on, it is determined that the circuit connection of the battery forming the main power source 1 is disconnected.

When the command to turn off the transistor 31 is received, the backup information is cleared to 0.

(Effect of the Invention) As described in detail above, in the camera having the data backup device according to the present invention, the data back for recording the shooting date and time on the film and the power supply for the data back are different from the circuit and power supply on the camera body side. In a separately provided motor drive camera, the contents of the camera body memory that records the progress status data of the operation of the circuit on the camera body side is displayed in the data back when the main power switch of the camera side is turned off. Transfer to the backup memory provided, and next time the main power switch is turned on,
It is configured to transfer the data from the backup memory to the camera body side memory.

Therefore, the necessary data transferred to the backup memory is held by the power supply for data back.

The power supply for data back always drives the date clock circuit and the like, and is not newly provided.

Since the next operation from the start of the camera is performed by the above data, it is possible to restart the reliable operation in a short time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a camera having a data backup device according to the present invention. 1 …… Main power supply 2 …… Transistor 3,4 …… Resistance 5 …… Automatic exposure control module 6 …… Automatic focus adjustment module 7 …… Display module 8 …… Shutter and aperture drive circuit 9 …… Sequence control and calculation CPU 10 …… Motor drive circuit 11 …… Film winding and rewinding motor 12 …… Focus adjustment lens drive motor 13 …… Zoom lens drive motor 14 …… Diode 15 …… Main power switch 16 …… Main power existence check Switch 20 …… Data transfer bus 30 …… Data back circuit 31 …… Transistor 32 …… Backup memory 41,42 …… Diode 43 …… Data imprinting lamp 44 …… Data imprinting LCD 45 …… Transistor 46 …… Data Back battery 91 …… CPU memory

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a motor drive camera in which a data back for recording shooting date and time on a film and a power supply for the data back are provided separately from a circuit on the camera body side and a power supply, the operation of the circuit on the camera body side is controlled. When the main power switch on the camera side that records progress data is transferred to the backup memory provided in the data back when the main power switch on the camera is turned off, the main power switch is turned on next time. A camera having a data backup device, wherein the data is transferred from the backup memory to the memory on the camera body side when the data is backed up.