Patent Application
20050179813
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Application No. 2004-041976, filed Feb. 18, 2004, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera or an electronic apparatus having a waterproof structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a well known waterproof stereo microphone which is fixedly mounted in a sport pack used for storing a video camera, given a stereo effect, miniaturized and sensitized. (e.g., refer to a Japanese patent laid-open application publication 06-086124)
While a microphone and a speaker are generally used as a pair, likewise the above described microphone has a waterproof speaker well known as a piezoelectric sounding body which is structured not only to prevent water drops or moisture from seeping into the body when a cordless phone or a mobile phone is used in a water splashing or high humidity environment such as a hot bath room or a rest room but also to reduce a deterioration of sound pressure associated with water proofing (e.g., refer to a Japanese patent laid-open application publication 06-098497).
As for waterproofing, not only the above mentioned cordless phones and mobile phones, but also other hand held equipment such as wrist watches, cameras, et cetera, with waterproof structures are very well known. Speaking of waterproofing a camera, it is basically structured for shielding what is inside from the outside, and therefore a difference in pressure between the inside and the outside, resulting from moving the lens equipped inside the camera body, increases the load for driving the lens. a well known solution to the problem is to install a small air hole in a camera (e.g., refer to a Japanese patent laid-open application publication 2001-110376).
Meanwhile, for a digital camera in which there is no need to move the lens, a known technique is to equip an air hole in a camera body to let out gas to prevent the gas emitted by the battery from filling up the camera body and contaminating wiring for the electronic circuit (e.g., refer to a Japanese patent laid-open application publication 2001-110376).
Meanwhile, another solution is known in which an air hole is equipped near the flange of a speaker in the wall on which the speaker is mounted inside an apparatus covered with a waterproof sheet (e.g., refer to a Japanese patent laid-open application publication 06-066191).
Meanwhile, there is also a known application in which an air hole is equipped in the side nearby a suspension for a speaker which is installed in the inside of a waterproofed space (e.g., a Japanese patent laid-open application publication 08-079866)
First of all, a camera according to the present invention, which is a waterproof camera having a lens unit including a moving lens, comprises an outer casting member for waterproofing the inside of the camera, a microphone positioned in the inside of the camera, a first opening used for a sound input which is featured in the outer member at a position thereof corresponding to that of the microphone, and a first waterproofing member having a characteristic of passing air and blocking moisture and for covering the first opening from the inside, wherein a microphone flange being featured in the microphone so as to embrace a vibration plate of the microphone and for contacting with waterproof inside wall of the camera, and a communication unit being featured in a location where contact is between the microphone flange and the waterproof inside wall of the camera so as to let a space containing a vibration plate of the microphone and the first waterproofing member communicate with only a part of space inside the camera.
In addition, a camera according to the present invention, which is a waterproof camera having a lens unit including a moving lens, comprises an outer casting member for waterproofing the inside of the camera, a speaker positioned in the inside of the camera, an opening used for a sound output which is featured in the outer member at a position thereof corresponding to that of the speaker, and a waterproofing member having a characteristic of passing air and blocking moisture and for covering the opening from the inside, wherein a speaker flange being featured in the speaker so as to embrace a vibration plate of the speaker and for contacting with the waterproof inside wall of the camera, and a communication unit being featured in a part of contacting place between the speaker flange and the waterproof inside wall of the camera so as to let a space containing a vibration plate of the speaker and the water proofing member communicate with a part of space inside the camera.
Secondly, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention, which is a waterproof electronic apparatus, comprises an outer casting member for waterproofing the inside of the electronic apparatus; a microphone being installed in the inside of the electronic apparatus; a first opening used for a sound input being equipped in the outer casting member at a position thereof corresponding to that of the microphone; and a first waterproofing member having a characteristic of passing air and blocking moisture and for covering the first opening from the inside, wherein a microphone flange being featured in the microphone so as to embrace a vibration plate of the microphone and for contacting with the waterproof inside wall of the camera, and a communication unit being featured in apart of contacting place between the microphone flange and the waterproof inside wall of the camera so as to let a space containing a vibration plate of the microphone and the first water proofing member communicate with only a part of space inside the electronic apparatus.
In addition, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention, which is a waterproof electronic apparatus, comprises an outer casting member for waterproofing the inside of the electronic apparatus; a speaker being installed in the inside of the electronic apparatus; an opening used for a sound output being equipped in the outer casting member at a position thereof corresponding to that of the speaker; and a waterproofing member having a characteristic of passing air and blocking moisture and for covering the opening from the inside, wherein a speaker flange being featured in the speaker so as to embrace a vibration plate of the speaker and for contacting with the waterproof inside wall of the camera, and a communication unit being featured in a location where contact is between the speaker flange and the waterproof inside wall of the camera so as to let a space containing a vibration plate of the speaker and the second waterproofing member communicate with only a part of space inside the electronic apparatus.
As shown by
The front opening part of the front cover unit 2a is equipped with an objective lens barrel 4 capable of advancing and retracting in the front and rear directions. The objective lens barrel 4 holds an objective lens 5 therein, forming a movable lens unit. And, in front of the objective lens 5, a lens barrier 6 is outserted onto the front cover unit 2a, from top to bottom, across slide grooves 7a and 7b featured therein (N.B.: the slide groove 7b is on the underside and therefore it cannot be viewed in
As described above, since the microphone is equipped in the top surface of main outer casing of the camera as shown by the microphone opening part 9 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to input the voice of the camera user for explanation and also pick up the voice of a person being photographed in the direction therefrom as there is no feature to shield the microphone in the front of the camera, thus making a very convenient place for equipping a microphone.
Also, since the speaker is equipped in the rear side of main outer casing, facing the camera user as shown by the speaker opening part 17 of the camera according to the present embodiment, the speaker is well located so that the camera user is able to hear a play-back sound easily.
The front cover unit 2a comprises a front cover panel 22 made of a thin metal sheet such as aluminum, and featured with an objective lens opening part 23 being located near the right edge, a front panel opening 24 as a meshed third opening being located approximately at the center, a strobe flash window 25 as well as a finder window 26 being located side by side at the upper center, a self-timer LED window 27 immediately below the above noted two features and a remote control window 28 being located near the bottom center.
The top and bottom of the front cover panel 22, a part of the front cover unit 2a, are featured with the above noted slide grooves 7a and 7b, respectively, which extend from the left to right (N.B.: the slide 7b is on the underside and therefore it cannot be viewed in
Meanwhile in the front cover unit 2a, the above noted meshed front panel opening 24 is attached by a front opening waterproof sheet 31 as a third waterproofing sheet from the backside of the front cover panel 22 as shown by the dotted line 32 ending with an arrow. The front opening waterproof sheet 31 has a characteristic of passing air and blocking moisture. The front panel opening 24 is always covered by the lens barrier independent of the position thereof and therefore it cannot be seen from the outside. Meanwhile, a strobe flash unit 34 comprising a strobe flash bulb 33 is installed in the strobe flash window 25 from the backside of the front cover panel 22. Meanwhile, in the finder window 26, a finder unit 35 containing the finder optics is installed, which is sandwiched between the finder window 26 and the finder eyepiece 11.
A front cover frame 36 made of plastic resin for assembly extends from the left end of the front cover unit 2a to the upper position thereof where the strobe flash window 25 is located and is fixed to the inside of the front cover panel 22 by using an adhesive. Toward the right end of the front cover frame 36, and at the position above the position where the strobe flash window 25 located, is featured with a microphone opening part 37 as a first opening on top of which is stuck with a microphone opening part waterproof sheet 38 as a first waterproofing sheet that has also a characteristic of passing air and blocking moisture.
Subsequently, in the above noted objective lens opening part 23 is installed by the lens barrel assembly unit 20 in which the objective lens barrel 4 is mounted onto a stationary frame 40, on which a waterproof packing 39 is attached on the outer circumference thereof, by way of a moving frame 41. The objective lens barrel 4 is supported by the stationary frame 40 so as to advance and retract freely in the direction of the optical axis O and holds the objective lens 5.
On the front lower part of the stationary frame 40 is mounted by a motor 42, while on the side thereof is equipped by a lens drive unit 43 which is driven by the motor 42 and advances and retracts the above noted moving frame 41 in the direction of the optical axis O. In the rear part of the stationary frame 40 is equipped by an image pickup device board 45 having a CCD board 44 being positioned at the focal plane of the objective lens 5, which is installed in the objective lens barrel 4, and an LCD unit 47 comprising a unit mounting plate 46 in further behind, thus making the whole part as a unit.
And the above noted LCD unit 47 is connected by an image pickup board 49 by way of a flexible PWB 48. The image pickup board 49 is also connected with a later described second PWB 52.
The above noted PWB middle frame unit 21 comprises a middle frame 50, a first PWB 51 placed closely against the side surface of the middle frame 50 opposite to the side opening thereof, a second PWB 52 placed in parallel with the first PWB 51 and a third PWB 53 placed on the outside of the first PWB 51.
The above noted middle frame 50 is featured by a battery chamber 55 inside which is covered with the first PWB 51 for installing a supply battery 54 which will be installed in the battery chamber 55 from the opening part when the battery cover 3b shown by
The above noted first PWB 51 is a main control board on which are mounted by an image processing circuit and various control circuits. And between the first PWB 51 and the second PWB 52 installed are a card connector 58 for inserting a memory card (i.e., storage medium), a video output connector terminal part 59 and a USB connector terminal part 61 in the opening part when the connector cover 3a is opened as shown by
While the above noted card connector 58, video output connector terminal part 59 and USB connector terminal part 61 are exposed to the outside on the left side as shown by
In the mean time, the second PWB 52 is mainly mounted by a supply source circuit part. And the third PWB 53 is mainly mounted by a strobe control circuit and the above noted strobe capacitor 56, and is featured with an extension being extended from the bottom thereof to the right. Close to the end of the extension is mounted by a DC connector terminal 68 and is featured by a screw hole for screw-mounting the board onto the rear cover unit 2c.
Meanwhile, the top surface of the above noted middle frame 50 is configured for extending to the center of the camera body, toward the end of which is featured by a microphone holding hole 62 that will be fitted by the lower engagement part of a microphone 63 for holding it.
The above described configuration places the microphone 63 between the battery chamber 55 which will hold a battery tending to emit gas, and the lens part (i.e., lens barrel assembly unit 20) as well as the strobe capacitor 56 for strobe flashing both of which are associated with temperature rise when operating. However, the configuration is such that the microphone 63 is held by a microphone mounting part 50c (refer to
Being placed between the front cover unit 2a and the rear cover unit 2c, the center cover unit 2b, covering the central upper and right sides of the aforementioned covers, comprises an internal cover plate 64 made of a sheet metal such as aluminum which are featured by a release button opening part 65 and the microphone opening part 9 as the first opening in the top part, and a DC connector terminal cutoff part 76 nearby the right low end thereof. In the release button opening part 65, the release switch operation button 8 will be inserted from below as indicated by a chain line 67.
Lastly, the rear cover unit 2c comprises a rear cover plate 71 made of a sheet metal such as aluminum and a rear cover frame for assembly 72 made of a plastic resin and fixed to the rear cover plate 71 by using an adhesive.
In
In the center of the back side (i.e., facing the inside of the camera) of the above noted elastic member 73 are featured by a projection part 73a for pressing the X-Y operation buttons and a depression part 73b for avoiding a pressing with a later described microphone lead wire solder part around the top base of the long narrow part extending top leftward. Meanwhile, the above noted rear cover frame 72 are featured by a DC connector terminal opening part 74 in the right bottom part thereof as shown by
The above noted front cover frame 36 and rear cover frame 72 are connected, while not shown, by way of a waterproofing member being sandwiched in between and by fastening screws inserted into respective screw holes for forming an external casing of the digital camera 1 together with the above noted front cover panel 22, internal cover plate 64 and rear cover plate 71.
As shown in
The rear cover plate 71 are further featured by four X-Y buttons opening parts 81 for the X-Y operation buttons 13, a monitor/play button opening part 82 for the LCD monitor/play button 15, an OK/menu button opening part 83 for the OK/Menu button 16, a speaker opening part 17 and a cutoff part 84 for the battery cover 3b, in addition, in the right upper part is featured by a zoom opening part 85 for the zoom button 14 which is also featured by a support column 86. All these buttons have also been shown by
The zoom button 14 is inserted into the right side of the opening 85a from the rear side while twisting the left end of the button horizontally, as shown by the chain line 87, so that the engagement part 14a engages with the support column 86 and thus the zoom button 14 can be rocked around the support column 86.
Each of the above noted button openings will be inserted by the respective button shown by
In particular, the X-Y operation buttons 13 are featured by a positioning hole 13a at the center thereof. And, corresponding to the positioning hole 13a, a back side protrusion 77a, which is seen as a depression from the front surface, is featured at the central part of the four X-Y buttons opening parts 81 of the rear cover plate 71 on one hand, and a projection part 73a is featured at the center of the X-Y operation button support part of the elastic member 73 on the other.
By the above described, the positioning hole 13a of the X-Y operation buttons 13 is inserted by the back side protrusion 77a of the rear cover plate 71 from the front and inserted by the projection part 73a of the elastic member 73 from the behind, thereby positioning the X-Y operation buttons 13.
In addition to fixing the position of the elastic member 73 with an adhesive, a sealing adhesive is applied along the outer circumference of the elastic member 73 without leaving a gap. This will prevent moisture or humidity seeping into the gap between each button and the button hole from invading inside the camera.
Closely attached behind the elastic member 73 is placed a flexible PWB 88, between the contact surface of which and the elastic member 73 are installed two zoom switches 89 corresponding to the zoom button 14, four X-Y switches 91 corresponding to the X-Y operation buttons 13, a monitor/play switch 92 corresponding to the LCD monitor/play button 15, an OK/menu switch 93 corresponding to the OK/Menu button 16 and a release switch 94 corresponding to the release switch operation button 8 (refer to
Meanwhile, the flexible PWB 88 shown by
Nearby the base of the extension of the wiring part 96 is installed by two terminals 98 with which two lead wires 97 of the microphone 63 are soldered. The depression part 73b (also refer to
A plate member 99 is installed closely with the other side of the above noted flexible PWB 88, that is, opposite to the contacting surface with the elastic sheet member 73. The plate member 99, being contacted by the edge 50a of the side opening of the middle frame 50, forms the battery chamber 55, also shown by
Meanwhile, the microphone holding hole 62 is provided at the end of the microphone mounting part 50c which is featured by extending the upper part of the middle frame 50 forming the battery chamber 55 as shown by
The microphone 63 further comprises a flange 100 on the mounting part in the upper part thereof. The upper surface of the flange 100 is featured with a circular ridge which has a cut-off part 101 instead of being a complete circle. This will be described later. Note that the size of the microphone 63 is magnified in the delineation of
Meanwhile, a speaker 102 is positioned in the speaker positioning cut-off part 95 of the flexible PWB 88. In front of the speaker 102 (i.e., the sound emitting direction of vibration plate; toward the left in
Note that the above noted flange 103 is not a complete circle but is featured by a small cutoff 107 which will be described later.
As shown by
This makes the whole speaker part stationary fixed between the rear cover plate 71 and the plate member 99. Even if there is a burr on a part of the flange 103 of the press-formed speaker frame 109, a resultant damage in the speaker waterproof sheet 69 can be avoided because the frame is pressingly contacting with the speaker waterproof sheet 69 by way of the solid spacer 104. Meanwhile, this layout places the speaker 102 nearby the battery chamber 55 made up with the middle frame 50 and the plate member 99.
While the circumferential end surface of the flange 103, that is, the flange surface 103a of the above described speaker 102 has to be positioned higher than the maximum height of the speaker vibration plate 108 when the solid spacer 104 is not installed, a presence of the solid spacer 104 in the present embodiment positions the flange 103a lower than the maximum height of the speaker vibration plate 108 by the height, h. Thus a consideration is given to make the whole configuration as thin as possible.
In the meantime, the normal configuration of the speaker 102 would be such that a space including speaker vibration plate 108 is enclosed by a speaker frame 109, a flange 103 and a solid spacer 104 and thus independent of a space inside camera 113, the present embodiment has the flange 103 featured by the small cutoff 107. By this, the speaker 102 is installed onto the speaker waterproof sheet 69 as a waterproofing member so that the space including speaker vibration plate 108 is in communication with the space inside camera 113 in one part only.
And the fact that the speaker waterproof sheet 69 has a characteristic of passing air and blocking moisture allows the space inside camera 113 to communicate with air in the space outside camera 114 through the speaker waterproof sheet 69, the space 112 including the speaker vibration plate 108 and the cut-off part 107 of the flange 103.
By this, when an air pressure in the space inside camera 113 becomes higher, the air inside the camera flows out to the space outside camera 114 through the cutoff 107 of the flange 103, the space 112 including speaker vibration plate 108 and the speaker waterproof sheet 69; while when an air pressure in the space inside camera 113 becomes lower, air outside the camera flows into the space inside camera 113 through the speaker waterproof sheet 69, the space 112 including speaker vibration plate 108 and the cutoff 107 of the flange 103, thus the air pressure difference will be maintained in equilibrium. Or, it is possible to exhaust gas filling inside the camera being emitted from the battery, et cetera.
As shown by
As described above, the microphone opening part 37 of the front cover frame 36 is shut off on the bottom opening thereof from the inside of the camera by the flange 100 of the microphone 63, while the top opening thereof is covered by the microphone opening part waterproof sheet 38 and facing with the microphone opening part 9 featured in the internal cover plate 64 of the center cover unit 2b by way of the microphone opening part waterproof sheet 38.
In such a common configuration of microphone mounting, a space 121 including microphone vibration plate 115 would be enclosed by a flange 100 and a front cover frame 36 for a microphone 63, thus basically becoming independent of a space inside camera 113, the present embodiment, however, is configured to have a part of the vertical flange 119 of the flange 100 being featured with a small cutoff 101. By this, the microphone 63 is mounted onto the microphone opening part 37 being covered by the microphone opening part waterproof sheet 38 on the top surface so that the space 121 including microphone vibration plate 115 is in communication with a part of the space inside camera 113.
And the fact that the microphone opening part waterproof sheet 38 has a characteristic of passing air and blocking moisture allows the space inside camera 113 to communicate with air in the space outside camera 114 through the microphone waterproof sheet 38, the space 121 including microphone vibration plate 125 and the cut-off part 101 of the flange 100.
By this, when an air pressure in the space inside camera 113 becomes higher, the air inside the camera flows out to the space outside camera 114 through the cutoff 101 of the flange 100, the space 121 including microphone vibration plate 115 and the microphone waterproof sheet 38; while when an air pressure in the space inside camera 113 becomes lower, air outside the camera flows into the space inside camera 113 through the microphone waterproof sheet 38, the space 121 including microphone vibration plate 115 and the cutoff 101 of the flange 100, thus the air pressure difference will be maintained in equilibrium. Or, it is possible to exhaust gas filling inside the camera being emitted from the battery, et cetera.
Furthermore, since the microphone 63 is placed not only nearby the battery chamber 55 which tends to emit gas but also nearby the lens part (i.e., lens barrel assembly unit 20) and the strobe capacitor 56 for strobe flash both of which heat is generated in association with the operations, the above described ventilation with the outside is also well suited for heat dissipation of the lens part and the strobe capacitor 56.
As described thus far, featuring a ventilation hole by cutting off a part of flange of the speaker sounding part or the microphone voice input part and letting air communication between the inside of an apparatus and the outside eliminate an air pressure difference occurring within the apparatus and enable a smooth operation of the internal moving mechanisms according to the present invention.
Also, a plurality of ventilation holes are provided by using a plurality of components such as a speaker or microphone, eliminating a need to cut a large ventilation hole in some part and thus maintaining an integrity of appearance of a main apparatus.
Furthermore, a plurality of ventilation holes are provided by using a plurality of conventional components, eliminating a need to install a member to cover up ventilation holes for maintaining appearance, and hence making a whole main apparatus compact and ease of use.
Or, in the case of featuring an additional ventilation hole, the presence of the holes in a speaker and microphone enable the hole smaller and less visible, thus providing an integrated appearance of a main apparatus.
Also, featuring holes in a battery chamber for communicating with the internal space of the a main apparatus and a plurality of ventilation holes between the inner space of the main apparatus and the outside makes it possible to let out gas, et cetera, generated in the battery effectively and firmly to the outside, thus removing a danger of contaminating the circuit wiring.
Let it be noted here that while the description of the above described embodiment has been given for a digital camera, the present invention is not limited as such, and is of course applicable to any other camera such as a video camera, a camera unit equipped in a mobile phone or a camera unit equipped in other information processing apparatus in addition to a digital camera, and still further, to electronic equipment such as an image replaying machine having just a speaker instead of a lens unit, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a sound recording apparatus, et cetera.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-041976 | Feb 2004 | JP | national |
