Pet photography auxiliary device

Abstract

To provide a pet photography auxiliary device.SOLUTION: A pet photography auxiliary device 1 is a housing 3 having an opening part in the upper surface thereof. In the side surface of the housing 3, a light-emitting element, a speaker, and a plurality of operational buttons are arranged. In the opening, a part that is usually stored inside the opening and appears from the opening part by operating the operation buttons is placed, thereby providing the pet photography auxiliary device 1 that attracts a pet's interest and naturally makes the pet turn toward a camera C.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1A

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an auxiliary tool for photographing pets. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditionally, digital cameras, single-lens reflex cameras, video cameras, and the like have been used to take pictures of pets such as cats, dogs, and small birds, but in recent years, an increasing number of users are taking pictures and videos of their pets such as cats and dogs using cameras installed in mobile terminals such as smartphones, tablet terminals, and small notebook computers. Accordingly, there is an increasing demand for taking good pictures of pets using cameras installed in mobile terminals such as digital cameras and smartphones, saving the pictures in one's own album, or posting them on the Internet using means such as SNS.

[0003] In recent years, as a means for attracting the attention of pets such as cats, dogs, and small birds to a digital camera, a pet photography aid has been known in which a cat teaser, a treat, a sound-making toy, etc. is displayed in front of a camera or a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, or attached to the camera, and the pet's face is directed toward the photography device. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a camera gazing prop for photography that attracts the attention of a pet by attaching a spring to a photography device such as a smartphone or a camera via an attachment device and attaching a rocking body containing iron particles to the tip of the spring, as a method for easily attracting the attention of a pet to a camera and taking a picture. Patent Document 2 also proposes a pet toy that allows a user to attach a plaything such as a cat teaser to a mobile terminal and take a picture of the pet playing from the user's point of view while playing with the pet. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-121919 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2023-6379 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, with conventional camera-focused props, pet toys, and other pet photography aids, although at first the pet will be interested in the props and toys and turn towards the camera, as similar props and toys are used repeatedly, the pet will soon become bored and lose interest, and will no longer turn towards the camera, meaning that the user will not be able to take satisfactory photographs.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary tool for photographing pets, which allows the pet to look back at the camera over a long period of time, photograph the pet from the camera's point of view, and allows the user to take photos that suit their preferences. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the pet photography aid of the present invention comprises: A housing having an opening on an upper surface thereof, A plurality of operation buttons are arranged on an outer surface of the housing, At least a speaker and parts that appear through the opening are housed inside the housing, The plurality of operation buttons include a button for operating an audio output from the speaker and a button for operating the appearance and disappearance of the parts. It is characterized by: Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, by attaching the pet photography auxiliary tool to a photography tool, a user can easily take photos that suit his / her taste. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1A]FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a state in which a pet photography auxiliary tool in accordance with a first embodiment is attached to a smartphone. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1B is a front view showing a state in which the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment is attached to the smartphone. [Figure 1C] FIG. 1C is a back view showing a state in which the pet photography auxiliary tool in Example 1 is attached to the smartphone. [Figure 2A] FIG. 2A is a front view of the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 2B] FIG. 2B is a rear view of the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 2C] FIG. 2C is a plan view of the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 2D] FIG. 2D is a right side view of the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 2E] FIG. 2E is a left side view of the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 2F] FIG. 2F is a bottom view of the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a left side view of a modified example of the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which parts of the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment are protruding. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of electrical connections in the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 6A] FIG. 6A is a perspective view showing a state in which a wristband is attached to the pet photography auxiliary tool in the first embodiment. [Figure 6B] FIG. 6B is a perspective view showing a state in which a neck strap is attached to the pet photography auxiliary tool in Example 1. FIG. [Figure 6C] FIG. 6C is a perspective view showing a state in which a belt is attached to the pet photography auxiliary tool in Example 1. FIG. [Figure 7A]FIG. 7A is a perspective view showing the entire pet photography auxiliary tool attached to a camera in the third embodiment. [Figure 7B] FIG. 7B is a perspective view showing a state in which the pet photography auxiliary tool in the third embodiment is attached to a camera. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] To provide an auxiliary tool for photographing a pet, which can be easily attached to a photographing tool and enables easy photographing of a pet.

[0011] Traditionally, cameras such as single-lens reflex cameras have been used to take photos and videos (hereinafter, both photos and videos are referred to as "photos, etc.") of pets such as cats, dogs, and small birds, but recently, it has become common to take photos using cameras built into mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Some pets have a strong tendency to avoid cameras, and since these pets stubbornly refuse to face the camera, it has been difficult to take a photo of the pet with its face or eyes facing the camera. Therefore, in the present invention, by using a pet photography auxiliary tool that will interest your pet and make it naturally turn towards the camera, it is possible to take good, satisfying photos of your pet that suit your tastes.

[0012] Next, the pet photography aid of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below shows one specific example of the present invention, so the arrangement, functions, and values ​​of the components described in the embodiment are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to these. In addition, the subject of the pet photography aid of the present invention is generally not limited to cats, dogs, small birds, etc., but also includes so-called pet animals. The following description will be given using a smartphone as an example, but the pet photography aid in the embodiment can be similarly applied to portable terminals such as tablets and small notebook computers. EXAMPLES

[0013] FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a state in which a pet photography support tool 1 in Example 1 is attached to a smartphone S, FIG. 1B is a front view of the same, and FIG. 1C is a back view of the same.

[0014] Fig. 1A shows the pet photography aid 1 attached to the smartphone S as seen from diagonally above. As shown in Fig. 1A and Fig. 1B, the pet photography aid 1 has a housing 3 that is generally rectangular parallelepiped in shape. The side of the housing 3 has a generally P-shape and has a protrusion 10 on the bottom.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1C, the housing 3 is provided with a clip portion 11 at the bottom of the back surface of the housing 3 so as to face the protrusion 10. The pet photography auxiliary tool 1 is placed so that the vicinity of the top of the smartphone S is clamped between the protrusion 10 on the front side of the housing 3 and the clip portion 11 on the back side. As shown in FIG. 1B, the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 is attached and attached near the top of the smartphone S so as not to block the front surface of the camera C, i.e., the lens surface, which is arranged vertically at two places on the smartphone S. The position where the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 is placed on the smartphone S is not limited to the vicinity of the top of the smartphone S, but may be placed on the side surface, bottom surface, etc. so as not to block the front surface (lens surface) of the camera C.

[0016] 2A is a front view of the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 in Example 1, FIG. 2B is a back view of the same, FIG. 2C is a plan view of the same, FIG. 2D is a right side view of the same, FIG. 2E is a left side view of the same, and FIG. 2F is a bottom view of the same.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 2A, the front of the housing 3 is provided with a sensor 30, a light emitting element 32, and a speaker 35 (the speaker itself is inside the housing 3) in that order from the top. A protrusion 10 is formed on the bottom of the housing 3. The sensor 30 has a function of capturing the pet's line of sight, etc. The pet photography aid 1 is provided with a transceiver (not shown) inside the housing 3 for wireless connection with the smartphone S, etc., via Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), etc. The sensor 30 controls the camera C arranged in the smartphone S to automatically release the shutter when it detects the pet's line of sight. The connection between the pet photography aid 1 and the smartphone S is the wireless connection described above, but is not limited thereto, and may be configured to be controlled by a wired connection via a USB terminal or the like.

[0018] As shown in Fig. 2B, three operation buttons 50, 51, and 52 are arranged in a horizontal row on the upper part of the back surface of the housing 3. Also, Fig. 2C shows that three cylindrical parts 20 are arranged in a rectangular opening 5 provided at the top of the housing 3.

[0019] The operation button 50 is a button for controlling the voice output from the speaker 35, the operation button 51 located in the center is a button for controlling the light emission of the light-emitting element 32, and the operation button 52 located on the right side is a button for controlling the appearance of the part 20 shown in Fig. 2C. The three operation buttons 50, 51, and 52 have a standby time and are activated several seconds after being pressed. This activation time is preferably set to about 1 to 2 seconds.

[0020] When the operation button 50 is pressed once, the speaker 35 will emit, for example, the sound of a dog barking several times and then mute the sound. Each time the operation button 50 is pressed, the operation of the sound of a dog barking several times and then mute the sound is repeated. The sounds emitted from the speaker 35 include, but are not limited to, the barking of a dog, the cries of animals such as cats and mice, mechanical sounds such as beeps, and the voice of an owner calling out to the owner. The sounds emitted from the speaker 35 may be set so that the above sounds are reproduced randomly. The operation button 50 may also be provided with a function for adjusting the volume of the speaker 35. The above sounds are stored in advance in a storage medium (not shown) such as an SD card or USB memory that can be freely inserted and removed from the housing 3, and these sounds can be played back through the speaker 35, thereby adding a wide variety of variations to the sounds.

[0021] When the operation button 51 is pressed, the light emitting element 32 lights up and then goes out after a few seconds. The light emitting element 32 is turned on for about 1 to 10 seconds, preferably about 2 to 4 seconds. The light emitting element 32 may be set to light continuously or to flash repeatedly. In addition to white LEDs, red LEDs, green LEDs, and blue LEDs may be arranged in the light-emitting elements 32. In addition to lighting each color LED individually, LEDs of multiple colors may be arranged to light up the red LED, green LED, and blue LED in a certain cycle in that order, or single-color LEDs or LEDs of multiple colors may be lighted randomly or simultaneously to change the color scheme. The operation button 51 may be given a function for controlling the amount and color of light emitted from the light-emitting elements 32, or the operation button 51 may be used to operate a laser pointer of an external device.

[0022] When the operation button 52 arranged on the right side is pressed once, the rightmost part 20, which is one of the three parts 20, appears from the opening 5 of the housing 3, and is stored in the opening 5 of the housing 3 after a few seconds. Each time the operation button 52 is pressed again, the parts 20 arranged in the center and the parts 20 arranged on the left side are repeatedly appeared and stored in order. The appearance of the parts 20 does not have to be in the order described above, and the left part 20 may appear first, or two or three parts 20 may appear at the same time, or the parts 20 may appear and be stored randomly. Although an example of three parts 20 has been shown, the number of parts 20 is not limited to this, and two or four parts 20 may be used, as long as one or more parts are arranged. Furthermore, the parts 20 are set to be removable and can be replaced with other members, for example, a cat teaser, a snack, an accessory in the shape of another animal such as a mouse or an insect, or a wing, a toy, or the like. In the case of a cat teaser, one or more of the three parts 20 may be set and the cat teaser may be shook left and right or up and down to attract the pet's attention. Also, a windsock may be set as the part 20 and a blower (not shown) may be provided inside the housing 3 so that the windsock extends or retracts when the operation button 51 is pressed. In addition, by using a scent bag that emits the scent of snacks, food, other living things or animals, the owner, or silver vine as part 20, the scent can be emitted when it appears from opening 5 of housing 3, attracting the pet's attention and directing its gaze toward the photographing device. Although an example has been shown in which three parts 20 are lined up in a row in the opening 5, the number of parts 20 is not limited to three, and it is sufficient that at least one part 20 is arranged in the opening 5. Furthermore, the three parts 20 do not necessarily need to be lined up in a row in the opening 5, and they may be in a triangular shape, or three or more parts 20 may be lined up.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2D, a power switch 40 for turning on / off the power supply of the pet photography support tool 1, and a connector 42 are provided on the side surface of the housing 3.

[0024] Fig. 2E is a left side view of the pet photography auxiliary tool 1, and the shape of the left side is the same as that of the right side as shown in Fig. 2D. Fig. 2F is a bottom view of the pet photography auxiliary tool 1, and the protrusion 10 of the housing 3 and the clip part 11 are arranged to face each other so as to clamp the smartphone S. In addition, the operation buttons 50, 51, and 52 are arranged on the back surface of the housing 3 on the side of the clip part 11.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a modified left side view of the pet photography aid 1 in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the clip portion 11 can rotate around the back surface of the upper end of the protrusion 10 of the housing 3 as a fulcrum, and is usually biased by a spring toward the protrusion 10. When clamping the smartphone S, the clip portion 11 is pulled vertically to open the gap between the protrusion 10 and the clip portion 11, and is clamped to the top of the smartphone S. A substantially rectangular parallelepiped power switch 40 and a connector 42 are provided on the side. The power switch 40 is pressed to switch the power ON / OFF. The connector 42 is a USB terminal or the like, and receives DC power from an external USB power source or the like.

[0026] Furthermore, an indicator may be provided on the housing 3 to indicate the ON / OFF state of the power switch 40, the charging and discharging state of the built-in small battery, etc. The indicator may be a white LED, a blue LED, a red LED or other suitable LED to indicate the light emission state of the light-emitting element 32 such as an LED.

[0027] In addition, to prevent the housing 3 from shifting out of position or damaging the display screen or surface of the smartphone S, it is advisable to place a protective member made of a rubber material such as silicone rubber or a soft vinyl material on the inner surface of the protrusion 10 and clip portion 11 that come into contact with the smartphone S to protect the contact surface of the smartphone S.

[0028] The size of the housing 3 is about 20 mm to 150 mm, preferably 25 mm to 100 mm, and more preferably 30 mm to 80 mm in length, and about 20 mm to 60 mm, preferably 25 mm to 60 mm, and more preferably 30 mm to 40 mm in width and about 20 mm to 100 mm, preferably 25 mm to 80 mm, and more preferably 30 mm to 60 mm in height, but is not limited to these.

[0029] 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which parts 20 protrude from pet photography auxiliary tool 1. Three parts 20 are housed within opening 5 at the top of housing 3 so as to be movable up and down.

[0030] 5 is a block diagram showing an example of electrical connections in the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 in Example 1. A power supply unit 43 and a control unit 45 are provided in the housing 3. Power supplied from the smartphone S is supplied from the connector 42 to the control unit 45 through the power supply unit 43. The control unit 45 controls the operations of the sensor 30, the light-emitting element 32, the part 20, and the speaker 35.

[0031] The connector 42 receives DC power from an external USB power source and stores it in the power supply unit 43. The power supply unit 43 uses a small battery such as a lithium-ion rechargeable battery, but may be equipped with a replaceable disposable lithium-ion battery, an alkaline button battery, or other battery. In addition to controlling the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 from the smartphone S via a wireless connection such as WiFi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark), the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 may be controlled by sending a control signal from the connector 42 to the control unit 45 via a wired connection. The small battery built into the housing 3 may also be provided with a function compatible with wireless charging.

[0032] [Variations] Figure 6A is an oblique view showing a wristband 60 attached to the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 in Example 1, Figure 6B is an oblique view showing a neck strap 61 attached to the pet photography auxiliary tool 1, and Figure 6C is an oblique view showing a belt 62 attached to the pet photography auxiliary tool 1.

[0033] As shown in Fig. 6A to Fig. 6C, the modified example is a type in which the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 of the first embodiment is installed on the human body. Fig. 6A shows a type in which a wristband 60 is attached and worn on the arm, and a smartphone S is used to photograph the pet. Fig. 6B shows a type in which a neck strap 61 is attached to the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 and the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 is hung from the photographer's neck, and Fig. 6C shows a type in which a belt 62 is attached to the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 and the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 is placed around the waist and photographed. In this way, by installing it on the human body, it is possible to give the pet a fresh feeling by attracting it from another place, not near the smartphone S, and to increase the probability of the pet turning its face toward the camera. EXAMPLES

[0034] Fig. 7A is a perspective view showing the entire pet photography auxiliary tool 2 attached to a camera such as a single-lens reflex camera D in Example 2, and Fig. 7B is a perspective view showing the pet photography auxiliary tool 2 attached to the single-lens reflex camera D. The configuration and function of the pet photography auxiliary tool 2 are similar to those of the pet photography auxiliary tool 1 in Example 1, but the pet photography auxiliary tool 2 has an overall shape of a truncated cone-shaped housing 3A whose vertical surface forms a trapezoid, and is provided with two arc-shaped grips 15 that extend from the bottom of the housing 3A along the lens barrel M of the single-lens reflex camera D and act to sandwich the lens barrel M.

[0035] In addition to the single-lens reflex camera D, any camera equipped with a lens barrel, such as a digital camera or video camera, can be used to take desirable photos of pets using the pet photography aid 2. The pet photography aids 1 and 2 described in this embodiment can be applied not only to pets but also to humans such as infants and small children, and are not limited to pets.

[0036] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0037] According to the present invention, by using a pet photography auxiliary tool that interests a pet and makes the pet naturally turn to look at the camera, it is possible to take good, satisfying photos of the pet that suit the user's taste. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1,2 Pet photography accessories 3,3A housing 5 Opening 10 Protrusion 11 Clip part 15 Grip 20 parts 30 Sensors 32 Light emitting element 35 Speaker 40 Power Switch 42 Connector 43 Power supply section 45 Control section 50 Operation button (audio) 51 Operation button (light) 52 Operation button (action) 60 Wristbands 61 Neck Strap 62 Belt C Camera D SLR camera S Smartphone M Lens barrel

Claims

1. A housing having an opening on an upper surface thereof, A plurality of operation buttons are arranged on an outer surface of the housing, At least a speaker and parts that appear through the opening are housed inside the housing, The plurality of operation buttons include a button for operating an audio output from the speaker and a button for operating the appearance and disappearance of the parts. An auxiliary tool for photographing pets.

2. 2. The pet photography aid according to claim 1, further comprising a light emitting element disposed on an outer surface of the housing.

3. 3. The pet photography aid according to claim 2, wherein the light emitting element is disposed on a side surface of the housing facing the subject, and the operation buttons are disposed on a side surface of the housing facing the photographer.

4. The housing has a protrusion at a lower portion and a clip portion one end of which is pivotally supported by the housing, The pet photography aid according to claim 1 , wherein the pet photography aid is supported on an upper portion of a photography tool by interaction between the protrusion and the clip portion.

5. The housing includes a pair of grips extending from both sides of a lower portion, 2. The pet photography aid according to claim 1, wherein the pair of grips are supported on an upper portion of a lens portion of a photography tool.

6. The parts are mounted so as to be replaceable with other parts.

2. The pet photography aid according to claim 1.

7. The housing further includes a sensor. The pet photography auxiliary tool according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor has a function of capturing the line of sight of the pet.

8. The pet photography auxiliary tool according to claim 1 , wherein the housing is electrically connected to a photography tool, and receives power and control information from the photography tool.

9. 2. The pet photography aid according to claim 1, wherein the photography tool is a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet, or a camera such as a single-lens reflex camera or a video camera.

10. The pet photography aid according to claim 1 , wherein a control unit is disposed within the housing, and the control unit transmits and receives control information to and from the photography equipment by wireless signals.

Images