Camera device

Abstract

To provide a camera device capable of realizing a light-emitting function by a discharge tube with a simple and compact configuration.SOLUTION: A camera device 1 comprises: a circuit board 10 having a contact 14 connected to a trigger coil 12; a discharge tube 22 capable of discharging; a housing portion 30 for housing the discharge tube 22; and a conductive reflector 40 attached to the housing portion 30. The housing portion 30 is attached to the circuit board 10. The reflector 40 has a reflecting portion 41 arranged so as to surround the discharge tube 22, and a contact piece 47 elastically brought into contact with the contact 14 in a state of being energized toward the contact 14 of the circuit board 10. The contact piece 47 of the reflector 40 extends in a plate spring shape from an edge portion of the reflecting portion 41.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a camera device, and particularly to a camera device having a light-emitting function using discharge in a discharge tube as a light source.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a camera flash using discharge in a discharge tube as a light source has been known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Generally, in such a flash, not only a circuit for supplying charges to both electrodes of the discharge tube but also a trigger electrode for triggering the discharge in the discharge tube is required, so the circuit configuration becomes complicated and the structure tends to be enlarged.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a camera device capable of realizing a light-emitting function by a discharge tube with a simple and compact configuration.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, a camera device is provided that can realize a light-emitting function using a discharge tube with a simple and compact configuration. This camera device comprises a circuit board having a contact connected to a trigger element, a discharge tube capable of discharging, a housing for housing the discharge tube, and a conductive reflector attached to the housing. The housing is attached to the circuit board. The reflector has a reflective portion arranged to surround the discharge tube and a contact portion that elastically contacts the contact on the circuit board while being biased toward the contact. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0006] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a camera device in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2A] Figure 2A is a schematic front view showing the circuit board and light-emitting section of the camera device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 2B] Figure 2B is a plan view of the circuit board and light-emitting section shown in Figure 2A. [Figure 2C] Figure 2C is a rear view of the circuit board and light-emitting section shown in Figure 2A. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the circuit board, light-emitting unit, and flash cover of the camera device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a perspective view of the housing for the light-emitting unit shown in Figure 2A. [Figure 5A] Figure 5A is a front view of the reflector of the light-emitting section shown in Figure 2A. [Figure 5B] Figure 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Figure 5A. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the camera device shown in Figure 1. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0007] Hereinafter, embodiments of the camera device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Figures 1 to 6. In Figures 1 to 6, identical or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted. Also, in Figures 1 to 6, the scale and dimensions of each component may be exaggerated, or some components may be omitted. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish components from one another and do not represent a specific rank or order.

[0008] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a camera device 1 in one embodiment of the present invention. The camera device 1 in this embodiment is, for example, a camera that uses photographic film that is automatically developed after shooting (an instant camera), but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to cameras other than such instant cameras. As shown in Figure 1, the camera device 1 comprises a front cover 2, a rear cover 3 attached to the rear of the front cover 2, a top cover 4 sandwiched between the front cover 2 and the rear cover 3, and a lens barrel 8 housed inside the cylindrical portion 2A of the front cover 2. A viewfinder window 5 is formed in the front cover 2, and a flash cover 6 is arranged adjacent to this viewfinder window 5.

[0009] Furthermore, a shutter release button 7 is located on the -Z side of the viewfinder window 5. The top cover 4 has an ejection slit 4A extending in the X direction, through which the developed photographic film is ejected after shooting. In addition, the lens barrel 8 in this embodiment is configured to extend in the Z direction. The internal space formed between the front cover 2 and the rear cover 3 houses a circuit board 10, which will be described later.

[0010] Figures 2A, 2B, and 2C are schematic front, top, and rear views of the circuit board 10 and the light-emitting unit 20 attached to the circuit board 10, respectively. Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the circuit board 10, the light-emitting unit 20, and the flash cover 6. In this embodiment, for convenience, the +Z direction in Figure 3 is referred to as "front" or "forward," and the -Z direction is referred to as "back" or "rear."

[0011] As shown in Figures 2A to 2C and Figure 3, a trigger coil 12, which acts as a trigger element, is connected to a pattern wiring (not shown) inside the circuit board 10 on the rear surface 10A of the circuit board 10. This pattern wiring connected to the trigger coil 12 includes a contact 14 (see Figure 3) formed on the front surface 10B of the circuit board 10.

[0012] The light-emitting unit 20 includes a discharge tube 22 capable of discharge, such as a xenon tube, a housing 30 that houses the discharge tube 22, and a conductive reflector 40 attached to the housing 30. For example, the reflector 40 is made of stainless steel, which has a high light reflectivity. This light-emitting unit 20 is positioned behind the flash cover 6 formed on the front cover 2, so that the light generated by the discharge in the discharge tube 22 is emitted as flash light through the flash cover 6 to the front of the camera device 1. For ease of understanding, the wiring connected to both ends (both poles) of the discharge tube 22 is not shown in the diagram.

[0013] Figure 4 is a perspective view of the housing section 30. As shown in Figure 4, the housing section 30 has a rectangular parallelepiped frame 31 with a housing space S for housing the discharge tube 22 and reflector 40 formed on its inside, a fixing section 33 extending from the frame 31 in the +X direction and having an insertion hole 32 formed therein, bent pieces 34 formed on both sides of the frame 31 in the Y direction, and two hook sections 35 formed on the rear surface of the frame 31. The hook sections 35 are designed to engage with the rear surface 10A of the circuit board 10 through elongated holes 16 (see Figure 3) formed in the circuit board 10 (see Figure 2C). Fixing screws 24 (see Figure 3) are inserted through the insertion holes 32 of the fixing section 33, and these fixing screws 24 are screwed into screw holes 18 (see Figure 3) formed in the circuit board 10, thereby fixing the housing section 30 to the circuit board 10.

[0014] Both ends of the discharge tube 22 are located on the -Z direction side of the bent piece 34, and this bent piece 34 is configured to elastically press both ends of the discharge tube 22 toward the -Z direction. Thus, in this embodiment, the bent piece 34 of the housing 30 functions as a biasing part that elastically biases the discharge tube 22 toward the circuit board 10.

[0015] Figure 5A is a front view of the reflector 40, and Figure 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of Figure 5A. As shown in Figures 5A and 5B, the reflector 40 has a reflective portion 41 positioned in the housing space S of the housing portion 30, and a leaf spring-shaped contact piece 42 (contact portion) extending from the edge of the reflective portion 41. Holes 43 are formed on both sides of the reflective portion 41 in the Y direction to allow the discharge tube 22 to pass through. The reflective portion 41 also has a curved surface that surrounds the discharge tube 22, and two support portions 44 are formed on this curved surface to support the discharge tube 22 from the -Z direction side.

[0016] The contact piece 42 is configured to be elastically deformable in the Z direction. The tip of the contact piece 42 is bent to form a contact portion 42A. This contact portion 42A is configured to make electrical and physical contact with a contact 14 (see Figure 3) formed on the front surface 10B of the circuit board 10.

[0017] In such a configuration, the bent piece 34 of the accommodating portion 30 biases the discharge tube 22 toward the -Z direction side, that is, toward the circuit board 10, and the discharge tube 22 biased toward the circuit board 10 by the bent piece 34 of the accommodating portion 30 presses the support portion 44 of the reflector 40 against the circuit board 10. Thereby, the reflector 40 is fixed to the accommodating portion 30.

[0018] Since it is difficult for solder to adhere to a material such as stainless steel, when the reflector 40 is formed of stainless steel as described above, it is difficult to directly connect an electric wire to the reflector 40. For this reason, in order to use the reflector 40 as the trigger electrode of the discharge tube 22, it is conceivable to solder an electric wire to another member such as a conductive plate and bring this conductive plate into contact with the reflector 40 to connect the reflector and the trigger coil 12. However, in such a method, since it is necessary to connect the electric wire and the reflector 40 via a separately prepared conductive plate, the circuit configuration becomes complicated, and since it is necessary to secure a space for arranging the conductive plate, the size of the light emitting portion 20 becomes large.

[0019] Regarding this point, since the reflector 40 of the present embodiment has a contact piece 42 that elastically contacts the contact 14 provided on the circuit board 10, the reflector 40 can be connected to the trigger coil 12 via this contact piece 42. Therefore, as described above, the reflector 40 can be used as a trigger electrode without using an additional member such as a conductive plate. As a result, the number and space of the components necessary for the light emitting function by the discharge tube 22 can be reduced, and it is possible to realize the compactification of the camera device 1 with a simple configuration.

[0020] Furthermore, as in this embodiment, the contact piece 42 of the reflector 40 can be formed integrally with the reflective portion 41 by extending the contact piece 42 of the reflector 40 in a leaf spring shape from the edge of the reflective portion 41. Here, the contact portion (contact piece 42) of the reflector 40 that elastically contacts the contact 14 provided on the circuit board 10 is not limited to the leaf spring shape shown, but may take any form. For example, the contact portion may extend from the rear surface of the reflective portion 41 of the reflector 40 toward the contact 14 of the circuit board 10.

[0021] Alternatively, as shown in Figure 6, for example, a projection 50 extending in the -Z direction may be formed on the portion of the front cover 2 where the contact piece 42 of the reflector 40 is located, and this projection 50 may press the contact piece 42 of the reflector 40 against the contact 14 of the circuit board 10. This pressing by the projection 50 ensures that the contact piece 42 of the reflector 40 makes contact with the contact 14 of the circuit board 10 more reliably. In this embodiment, the reflector 40 is pressed in the -Z direction via the discharge tube 22 by the bent piece 34 of the housing portion 30, but the reflector 40 may also be pressed in the -Z direction solely by such a projection 50 on the front cover 2.

[0022] The terms "front," "forward," "rear," "backward," and other terms indicating positional relationships used herein are used only to specify the relative relationships between elements in relation to the illustrated embodiments, and not to specify absolute positional relationships. Therefore, it should be noted that if the position or orientation of the device changes, the directions that these terms refer to will also change accordingly.

[0023] As described above, according to one aspect of the present invention, a camera device is provided that can realize a light-emitting function using a discharge tube with a simple and compact configuration. Specifically, the camera device according to the present invention can employ the following configuration.

[0024] (Composition 1) The camera device comprises a circuit board having contacts connected to a trigger element, a discharge tube capable of discharge, a housing for housing the discharge tube, and a conductive reflector attached to the housing. The housing is attached to the circuit board. The reflector has a reflective portion arranged to surround the discharge tube and a contact portion that elastically contacts the contacts on the circuit board while being biased toward them.

[0025] With this configuration, the conductive reflector is connected to the trigger element via a contact portion that elastically contacts a contact provided on the circuit board. This makes it possible to use the reflector as a trigger electrode without the need for other components such as a conductive plate. Therefore, the number and space required for the light-emitting function of the discharge tube can be reduced, making it possible to achieve a compact camera device with a simple configuration.

[0026] (Configuration 2) In the above configuration 1, the contact portion of the reflector may extend in a leaf spring shape from the edge of the reflective portion. Such a spring-shaped contact portion can be formed integrally with the reflective portion.

[0027] (Composition 3) In the above configuration 1 or 2, the housing portion may have a biasing portion that elastically biases the discharge tube toward the circuit board. The reflecting portion of the reflector may also have a support portion that supports the discharge tube between the circuit board and the discharge tube. With such a configuration, the biasing portion of the housing portion biases the discharge tube toward the circuit board, and the discharge tube, biased toward the circuit board, presses the support portion of the reflector toward the circuit board, thereby fixing the reflector to the housing portion.

[0028] (Composition 4) The camera device described above may further include a cover having a projection that presses the contact portion of the reflector toward the contact point on the circuit board. By pressing the contact portion of the reflector toward the projection of such a cover, the contact portion of the reflector can be made to contact the contact point on the circuit board more reliably.

[0029] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and may be implemented in various different forms within the scope of its technical concept. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0030] 1 Camera device 2 Front cover 3 Rear cover 4 Top cover 6 Flash Cover 10 Circuit boards 12 Trigger coil 14 contacts 16 long hole 18 screw holes 20 Light-emitting part 22 Discharge tube 24 Fixing screws 30 Storage Units 31 frames 32 Through hole 33 Fixed part 34 Bent piece 35 Hook section 40 Reflectors 41 Reflector 42 Contact piece (contact part) 42A contact part 44 Support part 50 protrusions S Containment space

Claims

1. A circuit board having contacts connected to a trigger element, A discharge tube capable of discharge, A housing for housing the discharge tube, comprising a housing attached to the circuit board, A conductive reflector attached to the aforementioned housing, A reflecting section is arranged to surround the discharge tube, A contact portion that elastically contacts the contact while being biased toward the contact of the circuit board and A reflector having A camera device equipped with the following features.

2. The camera device according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion of the reflector extends in a leaf spring shape from the edge of the reflective portion.

3. The housing portion has a biasing portion that elastically biases the discharge tube toward the circuit board, The reflective portion of the reflector has a support portion that supports the discharge tube between the circuit board and the discharge tube. The camera device according to claim 1.

4. The camera device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a cover having a projection that presses the contact portion of the reflector toward the contact of the circuit board.

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