JPH0758381B2 - Camera-mounted strobe device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an improvement of a camera-mounted strobe device that is detachably mounted on a camera body for flash photography.

[Conventional technology]

In a strobe device known as an electronic flash,
The most common small clip-on type is
By fitting the locking piece etc. provided on a part of the accessory shoe provided on the rear side of the upper end of the warship part protruding in the center of the upper part of the camera body and tightening it with a nut etc., It is designed to be attached integrally to the body side. On the other hand, in the case of a large portable type, a horizontal bracket provided on the lower side of the large portable type is fixed to the lower end portion of the body with screws or the like so that the horizontal bracket is integrally arranged side by side on the body side portion. .

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional strobe device mounted on the camera body as described above, the larger the strobe device, the more bulky it is. Especially, in the former case, the position of the center of gravity becomes high when the strobe device is mounted on the upper part of the body. Not only that, because the mounting area for the body is small, it tends to become unstable when shooting with the camera and when carrying it, and it is necessary to handle with care during shooting, which is a problem in terms of camera operability. Met. Also, in the latter case, although stability can be achieved by integrating with the body, since a relatively large strobe device exists on the side of the body, it can be held more easily than when the strobe device is not attached. It was necessary to pay attention, which also caused problems in terms of operability.

Further, in the above-described conventional strobe device, in order to be mounted on the upper side or the side part of the camera body, the device mounting portion must be held from the rear side or the lower side of the body. It cannot be said that it is easily and properly mounted and held, and there was a problem in terms of operability at the time of mounting.

Further, in the conventional strobe device as described above, the amount of protrusion from the body is large and it is not easy for the photographer to handle, and in consideration of these points, the photographer can maintain a stable photographing state and is compact and It is desired to take some measures that can be worn in a good appearance.

In particular, in the above-described conventional strobe device, many types have a built-in strobe charging battery in the mounting body, which tends to increase in size, which is problematic in terms of the above-described mountability and operability. In order to confirm the strobe charge completion status, it is necessary to visually check the display means such as a confirmation lamp on the outside of the device, and there is an operational problem that you can not shoot while looking through the viewfinder, and consider these points as well. Is needed.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to meet such a demand, the camera-mounted type strobe device according to the present invention is formed in a substantially lateral L-shape so as to simultaneously cover the upper side and the front side of the warship section that is raised above the camera body. A movable terminal having a strobe body mounted by being loaded from the front side of the body to the body warship section, and having a power supply terminal and a signal transmission terminal at a portion facing the accessory shoe on the upper side of the body warship section of the strobe body. The block is provided so as to be movable in the direction orthogonal to the mounting direction of the strobe body, and by moving this movable terminal block to the accessory shoe side, it is locked to the locked part on the upper side of the body warship part and the strobe body is fixed. While locking in the mounting direction, the power supply terminals and signal transmission terminals of this movable terminal block can be used as accessory shoes. It is obtained by configured to be electrically connected to the power source terminal portion and the signal transmitting terminal which is exposed to.

Another camera-mounted strobe device according to the present invention is
The body is equipped with a strobe main body that is formed so as to simultaneously cover the upper side and the front side of the warship section that is raised above the camera body, and that is mounted by being loaded into the body warship section from the front side of the body. To
A light guide plate is provided to expose the side surface on one end side to the upper surface of the strobe body to guide outside light into the viewfinder on the camera body side, and the other end side of this light guide plate is attached to the front of the body warship. In addition to facing the daylighting section provided as a light collector, a light emitting element that indicates the completion of strobe charging is provided inside the strobe body so as to face part of the light guide plate inside the strobe body. Is.

[Action]

According to the present invention, by slidingly loading the strobe main body onto the warship section from the front side of the body, the strobe main body is stably attached to the warship section while simultaneously covering the upper side and the front side section of the warship section, By moving and locking the movable terminal block that has the power supply terminal and signal transmission terminal provided on the accessory shoe side of the camera body side, it is possible to prevent the strobe body from coming off in the mounting direction and by the power supply terminal The power supply in the body can be used for strobe charging via the power supply terminal portion in the accessory shoe.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the camera body is provided with the light to the lighting window of the entire surface of the warship part of the camera body covered with the strobe main body, with the side surface on one end side exposed on the upper surface of the strobe main body. By irradiating a part of the light guide plate for guiding into the finder on the side with light from the light emitting element that is turned on or off when the strobe is fully charged, the light is guided into the finder through the light guide plate and the lighting window. You can check the completion of strobe charging while looking through the viewfinder.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a camera-mounted strobe device according to the present invention. In these figures, the overall schematic configuration will be briefly described. As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, the taking lens 3 is detachably attached to the front surface of the camera body 2, and the upper center thereof is a penta prism (not shown) incorporated in the body 2. It is formed as a warship section 4 that is raised according to the shape of (No.). At the rear of the upper end of the warship section 4, an accessory shoe 6 having a terminal section 5 which serves as an electric signal transmission section for a flash start signal with the strobe device 10 and flash condition information is provided. ing. In the present embodiment, the front side of the body 2 is on the left side of the upper end side of the lens mount,
A case will be described in which locking groove portions 7, 7 for locking the lower end side of the front block portion of the strobe device 10 are provided at two right positions.

Now, as apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2, the camera-mounted strobe device 10 according to the present invention simultaneously covers the upper side and the front side of the warship section 4 which is raised above the camera body 2 as described above. As shown in FIG. 2, the warship section 4 is formed in a shape that exhibits a substantially lateral L-shape, and the upper side and the front side of the warship section 4 are covered by being loaded from the front side of the body 2. The strobe main body 11 to be mounted is used, and the strobe main body 11 is configured so as to prevent the strobe main body 11 from coming off in the mounting direction by a locking portion that engages with the camera body 2 in a direction orthogonal to the mounting direction. It has features. That is, the strobe main body 11 is engaged with engaged parts (guide rails 8, 8 provided on both sides of the upper end of the warship part 4 in this embodiment) formed on the body 2 side along the front-back direction. Engaging portions (protruded ridges 12, 12 in this embodiment) are formed, and in this engaged state, from the direction orthogonal to the mounting direction, the camera body 2 side (in this embodiment, the concave portion 6 formed by the accessory shoe 6)
A locking portion (a movable terminal block 14 that moves up and down by the operation push button 13 in this embodiment) that engages a) is provided.

Reference numeral 15 in the drawing denotes a light emitting portion provided on the upper side of the front end portion of the strobe body 11 and is composed of a flash light source 15a such as a discharge tube, a reflecting portion 15b, a light source mounting leaf spring 15c and the like. Further, 16 and 16 are locking claws that are inserted and locked in the locking grooves 7 and 7 on the front side of the body 2, and these locking claws 16 and 16 are clear from FIG. 1 and FIG. As described above, the front block portion 11a of the strobe body 11 is provided so as to project rearward from the lower end side. Here, the locking grooves 7, 7 on the body side into which these locking claws 16, 16 are inserted.
Has a structure as schematically shown in FIG. 1, and its insertion ports 7a, 7a are always closed by an elastic sheet 7b made of, for example, resin, and are opened only at the time of insertion.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the strobe body 11 described above is formed such that the rear side portion thereof corresponds to the warship section 4 and the lower surface thereof is recessed so as to cover the upper side section thereof, and the front block of the front side thereof is formed. The part 11a is located on the front side of the warship part 4 and is formed with a curved surface on the lower side so as to be mounted while avoiding the taking lens 2. Here, in FIG. 1, 17 is a capacitor incorporated in the strobe main body 11, and 18 is a flexible printed circuit board from the terminal portion 5 of the accessory shoe 6.
Flash start signal and condenser 17 sent via 19a etc.
A printed circuit board on which a large number of electronic components 18a and the like, which serve as a control unit for flashing the flash light source 15a of the light emitting unit 15 in response to a charging completion signal from the like, are mounted, 19b is the printed circuit board 18 and the capacitor 17, and An electric wire for connecting the terminals for charging and the like, and other parts necessary for a strobe device are properly incorporated in the main body 11.

Then, the strobe device 10 having such a configuration has the strobe device 11 from the front side of the body 2 to the warship section 4,
The slide rails 8 and 8 are engaged with the protrusions 12 and 12 to slide-load as shown by an arrow A in FIG. 2, and the push button 13 as a locking portion is pressed as shown by an arrow B in FIG. By operating it and preventing it from coming off from the body 2, it is easily, reliably and stably attached to the upper and front parts of the warship part 4. Of course, at the time of this mounting, the locking claws 16, 16 on the lower end side of the front block portion 11a are also locked and held in the locking grooves 7, 7 on the body side, and a more stable mounted state is obtained. It is a thing.

Now, according to the present embodiment, the movable terminal block 14 having the operation push button 13 as the above-mentioned locking portion has the following configuration. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, and 20 is a lock hole of a lock plate portion 21 formed on the strobe body 11 side by being pressed by the push button 13.
21a is a shaft that descends while rotating, 22 is this shaft 20
Is a return spring that urges the
A mark member 23, which is colored red or the like to identify the pressed state of the push button 13, is attached to the lower portion. The movable terminal block 14 is provided at the lower end of the shaft portion 20, and is engaged in the recessed portion 6a which is the locked portion of the accessory shoe 6 on the body 2 side according to the vertical movement of the shaft portion. While detached, the plurality of terminals 24 incorporated therein during descending are selectively brought into contact with the same number of terminal portions 5 provided on the accessory shoe 6 so as to perform signal transmission. ing. This kind of operation
It will be readily understood from FIGS. 4 and 5.

It is to be noted that what is required for the lock plate portion 21 on the body 2 side that supports the shaft portion 20 described above is that it can be lowered by the pressing operation of the push button 13 and the locked state by the movable terminal block 14 can be obtained, and The lock state is maintained and the push button
Since the lock state can be released and the initial state can be restored by performing an operation such as rotating 13 or the like, a conventionally known lock structure may be appropriately adopted. Here, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the instruction mark 25 on the push button 13 side is the free mark 26 on the fixed side.
A case is shown in which the lock mark 26b is rotated from a to be locked, and is rotated in the opposite direction to return to the original position to be in a free state.

According to the present invention, any two of the plurality of terminal portions 5 provided on the accessory shoe 6 described above, for example, the central terminal portion 5a and the side terminal portion 5b are connected to the power supply terminal portion. In addition, the single terminals 24a and 24b in the movable terminal block 14 contacting the power supply terminal portions 5a and 5b are used as power supply terminals for strobe charging. That is, with such a configuration, it is possible to charge the strobe and perform flashing by using the power source housed in the camera body 2 at the bottom, for example, and thereby charging the strobe main body 11. The effect of the strobe device 10 that can be mounted on the upper side and the front side of the body warship section 4 as described above without requiring the installation of a battery for use, simplifying the overall configuration of the apparatus 10 and achieving its compactness and compactness. It is designed to be able to exert even more.

Therefore, in the strobe device 10 according to the present invention having the above-described configuration, the centroid of the strobe portion can be low in the mounted state, and a compact structure can be obtained, whereby a strobe device that does not affect the shooting operation can be obtained. Moreover, since the body warship part 4 is covered so as to be well-fitted, it has various excellent effects such as an appearance shape with less discomfort. Particularly, according to the present invention, since the strobe device 10 is mounted by skillfully utilizing the space on the upper side and the front side of the body warship section 4, there is no problem that the center of gravity is high and bulky as in the conventional case. The advantage is great. In addition, even when being carried, it can be easily and neatly carried as it is.

Here, a problem in adopting such a strobe device 10 is that, in the single-lens reflex camera 1, the body warship part 4 front surface thereof is normally provided with a daylighting window 27 as a light.
Is provided so that the data display portion and the like on the peripheral portion of the screen can be illuminated when looking through the viewfinder.
In the above-described device 10 of the present invention, the daylighting window 27 is covered, and the illumination display of data cannot be performed as it is. Therefore, according to the present invention, the light guide plate 28 made of, for example, a transparent synthetic resin material is provided on the upper surface of the main body 11, and the light from the side surface portion of the light guide plate 28 facing the upper surface of the strobe main body 11 is exposed. In addition to allowing the light to be taken in, the light guide plate 28 passes through the inside of the main body 11 and its end 28a is opposed to the daylighting window 27 of the warship section 4. And it can be certainly introduced.

Now, according to the present invention, in the strobe device 10 having the above-described structure, the printed circuit board 18 or the like is provided with the light emitting element 29 by a lamp such as a light emitting diode or a neon tube for indicating the strobe charging completion state inside the main body 11. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a light guide plate for guiding the light from the light emitting element 29 into the finder 9 (see FIG. 2) on the camera body 1 side (in the present embodiment, a light-collecting window as the above-mentioned light source). 27
The case where the light guide plate 28 up to is also used is shown) is provided. The display of the strobe charging completion state can be freely performed by turning on or off the light emitting element 29 described above, and can be appropriately controlled by the control circuit on the circuit board 18. It's good.

With such a configuration, the photographer can easily and surely confirm the priority completion state of the strobe device 10 while looking through the viewfinder 9. By removing the eyes from the viewfinder 9 as in the conventional case. Not only is there no problem of missing a chance to take a photo, but the operability during flash photography can be greatly improved, which is a great advantage. Particularly, in this embodiment, the light guide plate 28 serving as a light reaching the above-mentioned daylighting window 27 is skillfully used so as to notify the strobe charge completion state in the viewfinder 9 of the camera. The benefits will be easily understood.

Further, in the present embodiment, the light guide plate 28 for lighting up to the above-mentioned daylighting window 27 is configured to be used also for confirmation of strobe light emission. That is, the light guide plate 28 described above.
By exposing a part of the above-mentioned light guide plate 28 to the back side of the flash light source 15a of the light emitting section 15 in a part of the above, the leak light at the time of strobe flash is introduced into the finder 9 through the light guide plate 28. It is configured to do. In addition, reference numeral 15d in FIG. 1 denotes a light shielding plate disposed between the flash light source 15a and the light guide plate 28,
This is for appropriately controlling the brightness in the finder 9 by blocking the light amount of the leaked light at the time of the above-mentioned flash.

If the stroboscopic light emission state can be confirmed in this way, the photographer can easily and surely confirm whether or not the strobe flashes while looking through the viewfinder 9, and the strobe flashes. It is possible to eliminate problems such as failure to take photographs due to not doing so.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the structure of the embodiment described above, and the shape, structure, etc. of each portion can be freely modified or changed. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the light emitting portion 15 is fixedly provided on the front surface of the strobe main body 11 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. The upper part of the front end of 11 is accommodated in a notch-formed portion or provided in a lamp unit 30 that is rotatably supported upward and can be rotated as necessary. Obviously good. here,
In the figure, reference numerals 31 and 31 (only one of which is shown) are support pieces projecting from both sides of the lamp unit 30 which is rotatably supported about a rotary shaft 32 pivotally supported on the strobe main body 11 side. Then, in the case of such a configuration, as a portion for introducing external light to reach the light guide plate 28 reaching the daylighting window 27,
It will be easily understood that a portion 28b corresponding to the notch front side wall exposed when the lamp unit 30 is raised may be utilized.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, as the single-lens reflex camera 1, the type having the engaging groove portions 7 and 7 on the upper end side of the lens mount portion on the front surface side of the body 2 is exemplified, and the engaging engagement with this is made. The case where the claws 16, 16 are provided so as to project from the lower end of the front block portion 11a of the strobe device 10 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various modified examples of such a locking structure are provided. This is conceivable, and the locking means by the locking claws described above may be omitted if the locking state at the upper end of the body warship section 4 described above can be reliably performed.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the power supply terminals 24a, 24b on the strobe device 10 side are connected to the power supply terminal portions 5a, 5b exposed in the accessory shoe 6 on the body side has been described. It will be easily understood that the same operation and effect can be obtained even if the above-mentioned power source connection is made at an appropriate position on the upper end side (including the guide rail etc.) of the similar body warship section 4.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the light emitting element 29 for confirming the strobe charging completion, which characterizes the present invention, is configured to be guided into the finder 9 by using the light guide plate 28 as a light reaching the lighting window 27. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a dedicated light guide plate is separately installed in parallel for confirmation of charging completion.
It will be readily understood that this may be arranged to be introduced at any position within the finder 9. This is also the case for confirming the flash emission as described above, and various modifications can be considered for these display states.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the camera-equipped strobe device of the present invention, the body is formed in a substantially lateral L shape so as to simultaneously cover the upper side and the front side of the warship part that is raised above the camera body. Equipped with a strobe body that is mounted by being loaded from the front side of the body to the warship part, a movable terminal block having a power supply terminal and a signal transmission terminal at the part facing the accessory shoe on the upper side of the body warship part of this strobe body , It is provided so that it can move freely in the direction orthogonal to the strobe main body mounting direction, and by moving this movable terminal block to the accessory shoe side, it is locked to the locked part on the upper side of the body warship part and the strobe main body is mounted in the mounting direction. , And the power supply terminals and signal transmission terminals of this movable terminal block are exposed in the accessory shoe. Since as electrically to connect to the power source terminal portion and the signal transmitting terminal you are, despite the simple and inexpensive structure, it exhibits various excellent effects as follows.

That is, according to the present invention, the strobe main body can be mounted on the body side by a very simple loading operation, and further, the center of gravity is low and the strobe main body can be stably supported in a wide area, and is also reliable and compact in a mounted state. The power supply on the body side can be used for strobe charging because of the simple connection structure.

Further, according to the present invention, a strobe which is formed in such a shape as to simultaneously cover the upper side and the front side of the warship section protruding above the camera body and is mounted on the body warship section from the front side of the body. The main body is provided with a light guide plate for exposing the outside light to the inside of the viewfinder of the camera body by exposing the side surface on one end side to the upper surface of the flash body inside the strobe main body, and the other end side of this light guide plate. The end part of the strobe is faced to the lighting part provided on the front surface of the body warship, and a light emitting element that indicates the completion of strobe charging is installed inside the strobe body inside the light guide plate. Since it is provided so as to face the portion, various excellent effects described below can be obtained.

That is, according to the present invention, the light entering the front window of the camera body warship part covered by the strobe body with the light guide plate disposed on the upper surface of the strobe body with one end side surface portion exposed, the camera body side The light from the light emitting element that is turned on or off in the state where the strobe is fully charged is irradiated onto a part of the light guide plate, and the light can be guided through the light guide plate and the lighting window. It can also be guided into the viewfinder, which allows easy and reliable confirmation of the completion of strobe charging while looking through the viewfinder, which can greatly improve the operability during flash photography.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a camera-mounted type strobe device according to an embodiment of the present invention in a mounted state on a camera body,
FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view for explaining a loading state of the strobe device which characterizes the present invention, FIG. 3 is a front view of the camera showing a state in which the strobe device is mounted, and FIG. 4 is a locking of the strobe device. FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing an operation push button portion as a part, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a state before the operation, FIG.
The figure is a side view of the essential portions showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... SLR camera, 2 ... camera body, 3 ... photographing lens, 4 ... ship section, 5 ... terminal section, 5a, 5b ... power supply terminal section, 6 ... accessory shoe, 8 ... Slide rail (engaged part), 9 ... viewfinder, 10 ... camera-mounted strobe device, 11 ... strobe body, 12 ... ridge (engagement part), 13 ... operation push button, 14 ... Movable terminal block (locking part), 15 ... Light emitting part, 15a ... Flash light source, 17 ...
… Capacitor, 18 …… Printed circuit board, 24 …… Terminal,
24a, 24b …… Power supply terminal, 27 …… Lighting window, 28 …… Light guide plate, 2
9: Light emitting element for confirming charging completion.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A body formed in a substantially lateral L-shape so as to simultaneously cover the upper side and the front side of a warship section protruding above the camera body, and the body warship section is loaded from the front side of the body. A movable terminal block having a strobe main body which is mounted so as to cover the upper side and the front side of the warship section, and which has a power supply terminal and a signal transmission terminal at a portion of the strobe body facing the accessory shoe on the upper side of the body warship section. Is movably provided in a direction orthogonal to the mounting direction of the strobe main body, and the movable terminal block is moved to the accessory shoe side so as to be locked to the locked portion on the upper side of the body warship section, While locking the strobe body in the mounting direction, the power supply terminal and the signal transmitting terminal of the movable terminal block are Camera-mounted flash unit, characterized by being configured so as to be electrically connected to the power source terminal portion and the signal transmitting terminal which is exposed to Kusesari within the shoe. 2. A body having a substantially L-shaped sideways shape that simultaneously covers the upper side and the front side of a warship section that is raised above the camera body, and the body warship section is loaded from the front side of the body. It is equipped with a strobe body that is mounted so as to cover the upper side and the front side of the warship part, and inside this strobe body, the side surface on one end side is exposed to the upper surface of the strobe body and outside light is introduced into the viewfinder on the camera body side. A light guide plate for guiding the light is provided, and the other end of the light guide plate is made to face the lighting part provided as a light collector provided on the front surface of the body warship part, and the strobe charging is performed inside the strobe body. A camera-mounted strobe device, characterized in that a light emitting element for indicating a completion state is provided so as to face a part of the light guide plate inside the strobe body.