JP2010117664A - Lens barrel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lens barrel having a mount part simple in structure. <P>SOLUTION: The lens barrel (2) includes a lens side mount part (50) that is removable from the camera side mount part of a camera (1), and a photographic lens (40). Further, the lens barrel (2) includes a lens side contact point part (55) for communicating with the camera, arranged and turned in the light-emitting direction of the photographic lens in the optical axis direction of the photographic lens, on the lens side mount part, and a lens side protrusion (57) for protecting the lens side contact point part, formed to more project to the light-emitting direction side of the photographic lens in the optical axis direction than the lens side contact point part. The lens side protrusion is fit to a fitting part (24b) provided in the camera side mount part, to regulate the position in the radial direction of the lens barrel with respect to the camera, when the lens barrel is attached to the camera. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lens barrel having an electrical contact used for communication with a camera.

Some lens barrels are provided with electrical contacts for transmitting and receiving control signals to and from the camera and for supplying power from the camera. Since this electrical contact is generally provided at the mount of the lens barrel, it is exposed when the lens barrel is replaced. Since there is a possibility that the electrical contact may collide with another object during this exposure, there is a conventional lens barrel provided with a protective wall for protecting the electrical contact (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-267697 A

  Further, the lens barrel attached to the camera needs to be positioned in the radial direction with respect to the lens barrel with respect to the camera. For this reason, the lens barrel and the camera are provided with fitting wall portions that fit each other, and the radial positioning of the lens barrel with respect to the camera is performed by these fittings. In the prior art, since the fitting wall portion and the protective wall are provided separately, the structure of the mount portion is complicated, there is no room for space, and there are many manufacturing steps.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a lens barrel having a mount portion with a simple structure.

The present invention solves the above problems by the following means. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, although the code | symbol corresponding to embodiment of this invention is attached | subjected and demonstrated, it is not limited to this.
The invention according to claim 1 is a lens barrel (2) provided with a lens side mount part (50) detachably attached to the camera side mount part (20) of the camera (1), and a photographing lens (40). And for communication with the camera (1), which is arranged on the lens side mount portion (50) in the optical axis direction of the photographic lens (40) and in the emission direction of the photographic lens (40). Lens side contact portion (55), and the lens side contact portion (55) formed so as to protrude from the lens side contact portion (55) toward the emission direction of the photographing lens (40) in the optical axis direction. A lens side projection (57) for protecting the lens, and the lens side projection (57) is mounted on the camera side mount when the lens barrel (2) is mounted on the camera (1). It is fitted with the fitting part (24b) provided in the part (20). To regulate the radial position of the lens barrel (2) with respect to the camera (1), a lens barrel, wherein (2).
The invention according to claim 2 is the lens barrel (2) according to claim 1, wherein an end of the lens side protrusion (57) on the emission direction side is the lens barrel (2). The lens barrel (2) is located closest to the emission direction in the optical axis direction.
A third aspect of the present invention is the lens barrel (2) according to the first or second aspect, wherein the lens-side protrusion (57) has a predetermined length in the circumferential direction around the optical axis. The lens barrel (2) is characterized in that it is provided continuously only.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is the lens barrel (2) according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the camera (1) contacts the lens side contact portion (55). A camera-side contact portion (27), and a camera-side protrusion (35) for protecting the camera-side contact portion (27) formed so as to protrude from the camera-side contact portion (27) toward the lens in the optical axis direction. The lens barrel (2) is inserted into the camera side projection (35) when the lens side mount (50) and the camera side mount (20) are connected. The lens barrel (2) is characterized by having a concave portion (59 b).
The invention described in claim 5 is the lens barrel (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the camera (1) includes the lens barrel (2) and the camera ( 1) having an urging member (22a) for urging the lens barrel (2) in a direction in which the fastening with the lens barrel (2) is strengthened. The lens barrel (2) The lens barrel (2) is characterized by being biased toward the camera (1) by the biasing member (22a) when being mounted.

  Note that the configuration described with reference numerals may be modified as appropriate, and at least a part of the configuration may be replaced with another component.

  According to the present invention, the structure of the mount portion of the lens barrel can be simplified.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Each figure shown below is provided with an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system for ease of explanation and understanding. In this coordinate system, the direction toward the left side as viewed from the photographer at the position of the camera when the photographer shoots a horizontally long image with the optical axis A being horizontal (hereinafter referred to as a normal position) is defined as the X plus direction. Further, the direction toward the upper side in the normal position is defined as the Y plus direction. Further, the direction toward the subject at the normal position is defined as the Z plus direction.

  FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a camera system including a camera (camera body) 1 and a lens barrel 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention coupled to the camera 1. 2 is a rear view of the lens barrel 2 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the camera 1 shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the camera 1 includes a housing 10 and a body side mount portion 20. The housing 10 is a part that forms the external surface of the camera 1, and is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape, for example, with a metal material or a synthetic resin material.

  An imaging element 12 such as a CCD or CMOS is disposed inside the housing 10 and is mounted in a CCD case 14 supported by a CCD presser plate 13. As is well known, a cover glass 15 and a low-pass filter 16 are provided in the CCD case 14 in addition to the image sensor 12. A circular opening (hereinafter referred to as a housing opening 11) is formed on the front surface of the housing 10 when viewed from the front in FIG. The front portion of the camera 1 means a portion of the surface of the camera 1 that faces the subject at the time of shooting.

  The body side mount portion 20 forms the camera side of the mount mechanism that connects the camera 1 and the lens barrel 2. The mount portion 20 includes a mount base portion 21 serving as a base of the mount portion 20, a front decoration ring 22 that covers the outer periphery of the mount base portion 21, a claw portion 23 that protrudes from the front decoration ring 22 to the inner peripheral side, and a body side that defines a reference surface The bayonet mount includes a mount fitting plate 24, a lens attaching / detaching pin 26 (shown in FIG. 3), a plurality of contact pins 27 as electrical contacts, a contact block 28 for holding the contact pins 27, and the like.

  The mount base 21 is a member formed of, for example, a black-colored synthetic resin material, and is fixed to the inner side surface of the housing opening 11 of the housing 10. The mount base 21 is provided so as to protrude from the peripheral edge portion of the housing opening 11 formed on the front surface of the housing 10 to the inner diameter side in a collar shape. A mount opening 21 a through which subject light passes is formed at the center of the mount base 21. The mount opening 21a is formed in a circular shape, and can function as a fixed diaphragm. The subject light traveling from the lens barrel 2 toward the camera 1 is guided to the image sensor 12 through the mount opening 21a.

  The front decoration ring 22 is an annular member that extends along the peripheral edge of the housing opening 11, and is formed of, for example, a metal material. The front decoration ring 22 is fixed to the mount base 21 (shown in FIG. 3) by screws V1. The front decoration ring 22 has a function of improving the appearance quality of the camera 1 by making the peripheral edge of the housing opening 11 invisible from the outside. Three mount contact springs 22a are provided between the front decoration ring 22 and the mount base 21 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction, so that the lens-side mount surface is pressed or pulled into the body side. Yes.

  The claw portion 23 is mechanically engaged with a claw portion 52 (see FIG. 2) provided in the mount portion 50 of the lens barrel 2 described later in a state where the lens barrel 2 is mounted on the camera 1. The relative movement of the camera 1 and the lens barrel 2 in the optical axis direction is limited. The claw portions 23 are formed so as to protrude from the inner peripheral surface of the front decoration ring 22 toward the inner diameter side, and for example, three are provided at substantially equal intervals around the optical axis.

  The body-side mount fitting plate 24 is, for example, a plate-like member formed in an annular shape with a metal material, and is fixed to the mount base 21 with screws V2. The body-side mount fitting plate 24 is disposed on the inner diameter side of the front decorative ring 22 when viewed from the front in FIG. The body-side mount fitting plate 24 may be integrated with the housing 10, but is a separate annular member in the present embodiment in order to increase the shape accuracy.

  The surface of the body-side mount fitting plate 24 facing the subject side in the axial direction functions as a mount surface 24a serving as a reference surface that defines the flange back length. Further, the inner peripheral surface 24b of the body-side mount fitting plate 24 is engaged with an outer peripheral surface 57a of a fitting wall portion 57 provided in the lens barrel 2 described later to position the radial position of the lens barrel 2. I do.

  3 is formed so as to protrude from the body side mount fitting plate 24 toward the subject side in the optical axis direction. The lens attaching / detaching pin 26 is fitted into a pin hole 54 (see FIG. 2) provided in the mount portion 50 of the lens barrel 2 in a state where the lens barrel 2 is attached to the camera 1, so that the lens mirror The relative rotation around the optical axis between the tube 2 and the camera 1 is limited.

  The lens attaching / detaching pin 26 is movable between a lens barrel locking position protruding from the mount base 21 and a lens barrel unlocking position accommodated in the mount base 21, and is usually locked by a spring (not shown). Biased to position. A lens attaching / detaching button 26a is provided on the front surface of the housing 10, and the lens attaching / detaching pin 26 can be moved to the unlocked position against a spring by pressing the lens attaching / detaching button 26a.

  The contact pin 27 electrically connects the camera 1 and the lens barrel 2. The contact pin 27 is disposed in a contact block 28 that is curved along the periphery of the mount opening 21 a of the mount base 21. A plurality of contact pins 27 (9 in this embodiment, for example) are arranged adjacent to each other, and are fixed to the contact block 28 by a pressing plate 29. As will be described later, in a state where the lens barrel 2 is mounted on the camera 1, the lens barrel 2 contacts an electrical contact 55 (see FIG. 2) provided in the mount portion 50 of the lens barrel 2. The camera 1 supplies power to the lens barrel 2 using a part of these contacts, and performs electrical communication with the lens barrel 2 using the other part of the contacts.

  The contact pin 27 is provided so as to protrude from a region on the inner diameter side of the mount surface 24a to the subject side in the optical axis direction. The contact pin 27 is a movable contact that can move between a protruding position that protrudes from the mount base 21 and an accommodation position that is accommodated in the mount base 21. Normally, the presser plate 29 and each contact pin in the contact block 28. 27 is biased to the protruding position by a spring 30 provided between the spring 27 and the spring 27. The contact pin 27 is connected to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) 31 via a spring 30, and the FPC 31 is connected to a connector 33 provided on the body side mounting board 32 including the CPU 34.

  A protrusion 35 that protects the contact pin 27 is formed on the subject-side surface of the mount base 21 on the radially inner side of the contact block 28. The protrusion 35 is provided so as to protrude from the surface of the mount base 21 facing the subject in the optical axis direction (the lens barrel 2 side) toward the subject in the optical axis direction. The protrusion 35 is one protrusion extending in parallel with the contact pin 27 and the opening edge of the mount opening 21a, and the surface facing the contact pins 27 is a continuous surface. As will be described later, a concave portion 59b for receiving the protrusion 35 is formed on the lens side.

  Next, the configuration of the lens barrel 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. The lens barrel 2 is detachable from the camera 1 and includes a photographing lens 40, a mount portion 50, and a barrel main body portion 60. The lens barrel main body 60 is, for example, a housing of the lens barrel 2 formed in a cylindrical shape from a synthetic resin material. The photographic lens 40 constitutes an optical system that guides subject light to the image sensor 12 provided in the camera 1, and is housed in the lens barrel main body 60 together with the stop 41. The photographing lens 40 is formed by a plurality of lens groups and includes a zoom lens and a focus lens.

  The lens side mount unit 50 forms the lens side of the mount mechanism that fastens the camera 1 and the lens barrel 2. The lens barrel 2 shown in each drawing including FIG. 1 is an example of a lens barrel that can be attached to the camera 1, and the camera 1 has a mount portion having substantially the same configuration as the lens barrel 2. A plurality of types of lens barrels equipped with can be selectively mounted. The mount 50 of the lens barrel 2 has a mount base 51 and a rear cover 59 disposed at the center thereof. The rear cover 59 is attached to the mount base 51 with screws V3, and has an opening 59a for allowing subject light to pass therethrough.

  The mount base 51 is an annular portion that covers the opening of the lens barrel main body 60 on the camera side in the optical axis direction when the lens barrel 2 is attached to the camera 1, and includes a claw 52, a mount surface 53, a pin The hole 54, the electrical contact 55, and the fitting wall part 57 are provided (refer FIG. 2 about the pin hole 54 and the electrical contact 55).

  The mount surface 53 is an annular surface facing the camera side in the optical axis direction when the lens barrel 2 is attached to the camera 1, and the center axis of the ring substantially coincides with the optical axis A. . The mount surface 53 is in contact with the mount surface 24 a of the camera 1 in a state where the lens barrel 2 is mounted on the camera 1, and becomes a reference surface in the lens barrel 2.

  The claw portion 52 is formed so as to protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the mount surface 53 outward in the radial direction of the lens barrel 2. For example, three claw portions 52 are provided at substantially equal intervals around the optical axis. The claw portion 52 is provided so as to extend in the circumferential direction about the optical axis A, and the tip surface thereof forms a part of the cylindrical surface (arc surface). The pin hole 54 is a portion into which the lens attaching / detaching pin 26 provided in the mount portion 20 of the camera 1 is inserted, and is formed on the surface of the mount base portion 51 facing the camera side in the optical axis direction.

  The electrical contact 55 is a fixed contact fixed to the mount base 51, and is provided at a position that contacts the contact pin 27 provided on the mount unit 20 of the camera 1 when the lens barrel 2 is attached to the camera 1. It has been. The electrical contacts 55 are formed by insert molding and are arranged in a contact block 56 provided on the inner diameter side of the fitting wall portion 57, and a plurality of electrical contacts 55 in the circumferential direction around the optical axis A (in this embodiment, For example, 9) are arranged. The rear cover 59 of the lens-side mount 50 receives the protrusion 35 provided as described above on the radially inner side of the row of the electrical contacts 55 and on the radially inner side of the row of the contact pins 27 on the camera side. Has a recess 59b.

  The contact block 56 is a contact accommodating portion facing the contact block 28 provided on the mount base 21 of the mount portion 20 of the camera 1 described above in a state where the camera 1 and the lens barrel 2 are connected. It extends in the circumferential direction around A. Each electrical contact 55 provided in the contact block 56 is connected to a connector 62 provided on the lens side mounting substrate 61 via, for example, a flexible printed circuit (FPC) 58.

  The fitting wall portion 57 is a portion formed in an annular shape so as to protrude toward the body side from the electrical contact 55 on the inner peripheral side of the mount surface 53, and the end surface thereof is the optical axis A of the lens barrel 2. In the direction of injection. As described above, the outer peripheral surface 57a of the fitting wall portion 57 abuts on the inner peripheral surface 24b of the body-side mount fitting plate 24 of the camera 1 when the lens barrel 2 is mounted on the camera 1, and the lens mirror The relative movement in the radial direction between the tube 2 and the camera 1 is limited. Then, the inner peripheral surface 57 a of the fitting wall portion 57 and the inner peripheral surface 24 b of the body-side mount fitting plate 24 are positioned to define the radial mounting position of the lens barrel 2 with respect to the camera 1.

  Next, a procedure for attaching the lens barrel 2 to the camera 1 will be described. A user first moves the camera 1 and the lens barrel 2 closer to each other in the optical axis direction. Then, the mount base 51 of the lens barrel 2 is inserted into the inner diameter side of the front ornament ring 22 of the camera 1 so that the mount surfaces 24a and 53 are brought into contact with each other. At this time, each claw portion 52 of the lens barrel 2 is disposed between each claw portion 23 and the claw portion 23 of the camera 1.

  Next, the lens barrel 2 and the camera 1 are relatively rotated around the optical axis so that the positions of the claws 23 and 52 around the optical axis overlap. As a result, the lens barrel 2 is pulled toward the camera by the mount contact spring 22a, and the lens attaching / detaching pin 26 is fitted into the pin hole 54, and the fastening of the camera 1 and the lens barrel 2 is completed. Further, due to this relative rotation, the electrical contacts 27 and 55 are brought into contact.

  When the lens barrel 2 is attached to the camera 1, the projection 35 on the camera 1 side moves in the recess 59 b on the lens barrel 2 side, so that the projection 35 does not collide with the rear cover 59. . Further, the mount surface 53 of the lens barrel 2 and the mount surface 24a of the camera 1 come into contact with each other, and the lens barrel 2 is positioned relative to the camera 1 in the optical axis direction. Further, the inner peripheral surface 24b of the body-side mount fitting plate 24 and the outer peripheral surface 57a of the fitting wall portion 57 provided on the lens barrel 2 are engaged to position the lens barrel 2 in the radial direction with respect to the camera 1. Is done.

  When the lens barrel 2 is removed from the camera 1, the lens attaching / detaching button 26a shown in FIG. 3 is pushed in the optical axis direction to release the lens attaching / detaching pin 26 from the pin hole 54 shown in FIG. Then, the lens barrel 2 is rotated with respect to the camera 1, the engagement between the claw portions 23 and 52 is released, and the lens barrel 2 is pulled away from the camera.

  The lens barrel 2 removed from the camera 1 in this manner may be temporarily placed on, for example, a desk surface 70 as shown in FIG. However, the mounting base 51 of the lens barrel 2 of the present embodiment is provided with a fitting wall 57 adjacent to the electrical contact 55. The fitting wall portion 57 is provided so as to protrude from the electrical contact 55 to the camera 1 as described above.

  Accordingly, when the lens barrel 2 is placed on a desk or the like, the lens barrel 2 is self-supporting with the annular end surface of the fitting wall portion 57 placed on the desk top surface 70 first, so that the electrical contact 55 contacts the desk top surface 70. There is nothing to do. Further, even when a foreign object 71 as indicated by reference numeral 71 in FIG. 4 is present on the desk surface 70, the possibility that the foreign object 71 contacts the electrical contact 55 is reduced by the height of the fitting wall portion 57.

As described above, this embodiment has the following effects.
(1) Since the annular end surface of the fitting wall portion 57 provided in the lens barrel 2 is located closest to the emission direction in the optical axis direction of the lens barrel 2, the lens barrel with the electrical contact 55 on the lower side. For example, when 2 is placed on a desk, damage to the electrical contacts 55 on the lens side can be reliably prevented.
(2) In this way, the fitting wall portion 57 functions as a protection portion for the lens-side electrical contact 55, while its outer peripheral surface 57 a is engaged with the inner peripheral surface 24 b of the body-side mount fitting plate 24. Accordingly, the radial position of the lens barrel 2 with respect to the camera 1 can be determined.
(3) Since the fitting wall portion 57 also has a function as a protective member of the electrical contact 55 and a function as a positioning of the lens barrel 2 with respect to the camera 1, it is necessary to install the protective member and the positioning member separately. Absent. Therefore, not only the installation space can be reduced, but also the manufacturing process can be reduced and the cost can be reduced, and the related parts can be structurally simplified, so that the degree of freedom of design increases.
(4) Since the fitting wall portion 57 serves as both a fitting portion and a protection portion and the degree of freedom in design is increased, the electrical contact 55 can be disposed on the outer side in the radial direction. The number can be increased, for example, to 12 pins.
(5) Since the fitting wall portion 57 on the lens side is continuously provided over the entire circumference of the mount base portion 51, the processing becomes easy and the roundness thereof can be increased.
(6) According to the present embodiment, since the projections 35 that protect the contact pins 27 are also provided on the camera 1 side, the contact pins 27 that are electrical contacts on the camera side can also be protected. When the lens-side mount unit 50 and the camera-side mount unit 20 are connected, the lens-side mount unit 50 is provided with a recess 59b into which the projection 35 is inserted. There is no obstacle.

(Deformation)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications and changes as shown below are possible.
(1) In the present embodiment, the fitting wall portion 57 on the lens barrel 2 side is configured to continuously extend over the entire circumference of the mount base 51, but is not limited thereto, and is along the circumference. It may be a part or may be formed intermittently.
(2) The protrusion 35 is preferably a resin molded product provided integrally with the mount base 21, but may be a separate member. Moreover, when it is set as another member, the material which forms the protrusion 35 is not restricted to a synthetic resin material, For example, other materials, such as a metal, may be sufficient.
(3) In the embodiment, the opening 21a formed in the mount base 21 is circular, but may be other shapes such as a rectangular shape.
In addition, although embodiment and a deformation | transformation form can also be used in combination suitably, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a camera system including a lens barrel according to an embodiment of the present invention and a camera to which the lens barrel is coupled. It is a rear view of the lens barrel shown in FIG. It is a front view of the camera shown in FIG. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view at the time of putting the lens-barrel of FIG. 1 on a plane.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Camera, 2: Lens barrel, 20: Body side mount part, 21: Mount base part, 21a: Mount opening part, 22: Front decoration ring, 22a: Mount contact spring, 24: Body side mount fitting plate, 24a : Mount surface, 24b: inner peripheral surface, 27: contact pin, 35: protrusion, 40: photographic lens, 50: lens side mount, 53: mount surface, 55: electrical contact, 57: fitting wall, 57a : Outer peripheral surface, 59b: recess

Claims (5)

A lens barrel that includes a lens-side mount that can be attached to and detached from the camera-side mount of the camera, and a photographic lens;
On the lens side mount portion, a lens side contact portion for communication with the camera, which is disposed in the optical axis direction of the photographing lens and facing the emitting direction of the photographing lens,
A lens-side protrusion for protecting the lens-side contact portion, which is formed so as to protrude from the lens-side contact portion toward the exit direction of the photographing lens in the optical axis direction.
When the lens barrel is mounted on the camera, the lens side protrusion is fitted with a fitting portion provided on the camera side mount, and the radial position of the lens barrel with respect to the camera To regulate,
A lens barrel characterized by The lens barrel according to claim 1,
An end of the lens side protrusion on the emission direction side is located closest to the emission direction in the optical axis direction of the lens barrel.
A lens barrel characterized by The lens barrel according to claim 1 or 2,
The lens side protrusion is continuously provided for a predetermined length in the circumferential direction around the optical axis,
Characteristic lens barrel. The lens barrel according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The camera includes a camera-side contact portion that contacts the lens-side contact portion, and a camera-side protrusion for protecting the camera-side contact portion that is formed to protrude from the camera-side contact portion toward the lens in the optical axis direction. , And
The lens barrel has a recess into which the camera-side protrusion is inserted when the lens-side mount and the camera-side mount are connected;
A lens barrel characterized by The lens barrel according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The camera has a biasing member that biases the lens barrel in a direction in which fastening between the lens barrel and the camera is strong,
The lens barrel is urged toward the camera by the urging member when mounted on the camera;
A lens barrel characterized by

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