BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an embodiment of a digital camera equipped with an image stabilizer according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1 in a ready-to-photograph state of the zoom lens thereof;
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1 in the fully-retracted state of the zoom lens;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the zoom lens of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1 in the fully-retracted state of the zoom lens;
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the zoom lens shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of another portion of the zoom lens shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of an image stabilizing unit (image stabilizing mechanism) shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of the image stabilizing unit shown in FIG. 5 from which a movable plate and a stationary cover are removed;
FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of the image stabilizing unit shown in FIG. 5, viewed from an angle different from the angle of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the image stabilizing unit;
FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the image stabilizing unit in the vicinity of a stationary holder thereof;
FIG. 12 is an exploded front perspective view of an X-axis direction moving stage, a CCD image sensor, a CCD retaining plate and associated elements shown in FIG. 10;
FIG. 13 is a rear perspective view of the X-axis direction moving stage shown in FIG. 12 from which the flexible printed wiring board and the movable plate that are shown in FIG. 10 are removed;
FIG. 14 is a front perspective view of a first X-axis direction moving member, a second X-axis direction moving member and an associated extension joining spring of the image stabilizing unit, showing an exploded state thereof;
FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view of the first X-axis direction moving member, the second X-axis direction moving member and the associated extension joining spring that are shown in FIG. 14, showing an exploded state and an assembled state thereof;
FIG. 16 is an exploded perspective view of a Y-axis direction moving member, a Y-axis direction moving stage and an associated extension joining spring of the image stabilizing unit;
FIG. 17 is a rear perspective view of the Y-axis direction moving member, the Y-axis direction moving stage and the associated extension joining spring that are shown in FIG. 16, showing an exploded state and an assembled state thereof;
FIG. 18 is a front perspective view of the image stabilizing unit from which the stationary holder is removed;
FIG. 19 is a rear perspective view of the elements of the image stabilizing unit shown in FIG. 18;
FIG. 20 is a front perspective view of the elements of the image stabilizing unit shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 from which drive motors, photo-interrupters and biasing springs are further removed;
FIG. 21 is a rear perspective view of the elements of the image stabilizing unit shown in FIG. 20;
FIG. 22 is a front perspective view of the elements of the image stabilizing unit shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 from which the second X-axis direction moving member and the Y-axis direction moving member are further removed;
FIG. 23 is a rear perspective view of the elements of the image stabilizing unit shown in FIG. 22;
FIG. 24 is a diagrammatic illustration of the image stabilizing unit, showing the structure thereof;
FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of electrical circuits of the digital camera shown in FIGS. 1 through 3;
FIG. 26 is a view similar to that of FIG. 18, showing another embodiment (second embodiment) of the image stabilizing unit from which the stationary holder is removed;
FIG. 27 is a rear perspective view of the elements of the image stabilizing unit shown in FIG. 26;
FIG. 28 is a diagrammatic illustration of the second embodiment of the image stabilizing unit, showing the structure thereof;
FIG. 29 is an exploded front perspective view of a CCD unit and a stationary cover shown in FIG. 10;
FIG. 30 is an exploded rear perspective view of the CCD unit;
FIG. 31 is an exploded rear perspective view of the CCD unit, showing a state where the CCD retaining plate is fixed to the X-axis direction moving stage;
FIG. 32 is a rear perspective view of the CCD unit in an assembled state thereof;
FIG. 33 is a cross sectional view of the image stabilizing unit in a state before an inclination angle adjustment is made to the CCD image sensor;
FIG. 34 is a cross sectional view of the image stabilizing unit in a state after the inclination angle adjustment has been made to the CCD image sensor;
FIG. 35 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a portion of the image stabilizing unit in the vicinity of one of the two adjusting screws shown in FIG. 33;
FIG. 36 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a portion of the image stabilizing unit in the vicinity of one of the two adjusting screws shown in FIG. 34;
FIG. 37 is a cross sectional view of the image stabilizing unit, taken along a plane in which two compression coil springs of the CCD unit are positioned;
FIG. 38 is a rear perspective view of the image stabilizing unit in a state where the movable plate and the stationary cover are installed;
FIG. 39 is a rear perspective view of the image stabilizing unit with the stationary cover partly cut away for clarity;
FIG. 40 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the image stabilizing unit, showing the arrangement of the flexible printed wiring board that extends from the CCD image sensor;
FIG. 41 is a view similar to that of FIG. 24, with the flexible printed wiring board that extends from the CCD image sensor is shown by a thin two-dot chain line, and with the movable plate that supports the flexible printed wiring board is shown by a thick two-dot chain line;
FIG. 42 is a view similar to that of FIG. 41, showing a comparative example wherein the flexible printed wiring board extends from the CCD image sensor in the direction opposite to the direction of the flexible printed wiring board shown in FIG. 41;
FIG. 43 is a view similar to that of FIG. 41, showing another embodiment (third embodiment) of the image stabilizing unit, wherein the flexible printed wiring board extends from the CCD image sensor in the X-axis direction (leftward as viewed in FIG. 43), i.e., in a direction different from that in FIG. 41;
FIG. 44 is a view similar to that of FIG. 43, showing a comparative example wherein the flexible printed wiring board extends from the CCD image sensor in the direction opposite to the direction of the flexible printed wiring board shown in FIG. 43;
FIG. 45 is a view similar to that of FIG. 40, showing another embodiment (fourth embodiment) of the image stabilizing unit which is similar to the first embodiment of the image stabilizing unit and provided with no movable plate corresponding to the movable plate shown in FIG. 40; and
FIG. 46 is a view similar to that of FIG. 45, showing another embodiment (fifth embodiment) of the image stabilizing unit which is similar to the fourth embodiment of the image stabilizing unit and provided with no CCD retaining plate corresponding to the CCD retaining plate shown in FIG. 45.
Patent Application
20070182825
