Claims
- 1. An apparatus for controlling a strobe which is used with a camera, said apparatus comprising:
- a charging means for charging the strobe:
- voltage detecting means for detecting the charged voltage of the strobe:
- charging time measuring means for measuring the time elapsed after charging starts;
- charging time-limit selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of charging times according to the operating conditions of the camera;
- charging voltage limit selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of charge limit voltages according to the operating conditions of the camera;
- charging means for stopping charging when the charged voltage does not reach the selected charge limit voltage after the selected charging time has elapsed;
- charging prohibiting means for prohibiting charging if a predetermined charge prohibit time has not elapsed after charging is completed;
- heat discriminating means for discriminating the heat condition of the strobe; and
- prohibiting time changing means for changing said predetermined prohibit time according to the heat condition of the strobe as discriminated by said heat discriminating means.
- 2. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said prohibiting time changing means increments said prohibit time by a first predetermined value whenever the strobe flashes; and wherein said prohibiting time changing means decrements said prohibit time by a second predetermined value whenever a predetermined time elapses.
- 3. An apparatus for controlling a strobe which is used with a camera, said apparatus, which comprising:
- charge means for charging the strobe;
- voltage detecting means for detecting the charged voltage of the strobe;
- charging time measuring means for measuring the time elapsed after charging starts; and
- charging time-limit selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of charging times according to the operation conditions of the camera; and
- charge stopping means for stopping charging when the charged voltage does not reach a predetermined value after the selected charging time has elapsed.
- 4. An apparatus for controlling a strobe which is used with a camera, said apparatus comprising:
- charging means for charging the strobe;
- voltage detecting means for detecting the charged voltage of the strobe;
- charging time measuring means for measuring the time elapsed after charging starts;
- charging voltage limit selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of charge limit voltages according to the operating conditions of the camera; and
- charge stopping means for stopping charging when the charged voltage does not reach the selected charge limit voltage after a predetermined charging time has elapsed.
- 5. An apparatus for controlling a strobe which is used with a camera, said apparatus comprising;
- charging means for charging the strobe;
- voltage detecting means for detecting the charged voltage of the strobe;
- charging time measuring means for measuring the time elapsed after charging starts;
- charging time-limit selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of charging times according to the operating conditions of the camera;
- charging voltage limit selecting means for selecting .Iadd.one .Iaddend.of a plurality of charge limit voltages according to the operating conditions of the camera; and
- charging stopping means for stopping charging when the charged voltage does not reach the selected charge limit voltage after the selected charging time has elapsed.
- 6. An apparatus for controlling a strobe, which comprises;
- pulse generating means for .�.generated.!. .Iadd.generating .Iaddend.a pulse, the time width of said pulse .�.corresponds.!. .Iadd.corresponding .Iaddend.to the charged voltage of the strobe; and
- voltage detecting means for detecting the charged voltage by measuring the time width of said pulse generated by said pulse generating means.
- 7. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said pulse generating means generates said pulse only when the charged voltage exceeds a predetermined reference voltage.
- 8. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said reference voltage is a strobe flash enable voltage.
- 9. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 6, which further comprises signal output means for outputting a check signal to said pulse generating means comprises:
- switch means for switching to a turned ON state when the check signal is outputted from said signal output means, said switch means being switchable between ON and OFF states;
- a hysteresis element with a current enable voltage which differs from the current hold voltage of said hysteresis element, the charged voltage of the strobe being applied to said hysteresis element when said switch means is turned ON; and
- compensation means for compensating for the current flow to said hysteresis element, after said switch means is turned from ON to OFF, during the time while the voltage applied to said hysteresis element drops from the current enable voltage to the current hold voltage,
- said compensation means generating said pulse corresponding to the time while said compensation means compensates for the current to said hysteresis element.
- 10. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said hysteresis element comprises a Neon lamp.
- 11. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said compensation means comprises a capacitor.
- 12. An apparatus for controlling a strobe, which comprises;
- voltage detecting means for detecting the charged voltage of the strobe; and
- determination means for determining a proper exposure value based upon the voltage detected by said voltage detecting means.
- 13. An apparatus for controlling a strobe, which comprises:
- charging means for charging the strobe;
- charge prohibiting means for prohibiting charging if a predetermined charge prohibit time has not elapsed after charging is completed;
- heat discriminating means for discriminating the heat condition of the strobe; and
- prohibit time changing means for changing said predetermined prohibit time according to the heat condition of said strobe descriminated by said heat discriminating means.
- 14. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said prohibit time changing means extends said prohibit time if said heat discriminating means discriminates that the heat condition of the strobe is over a first predetermined state; and wherein said prohibit time change means shortens said prohibit time if said heat discriminating means discriminates that the heat condition of the strobe is below a second predetermined state.
- 15. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said heat discriminating means discriminates the heat condition of the strobe based upon the frequency of strobe flashings.
- 16. The strobe control apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said prohibit time changing means increments said prohibit time by a first predetermined value whenever the strobe flashes; and wherein said prohibit time changing means decrements said prohibit time by a second predetermined value whenever a predetermined time elapses without flashing. .Iadd.
- 17. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 7, further comprising control means for producing a reference time value T1 corresponding to said predetermined reference voltage, wherein said reference time value T1 is employed to determine said charged voltage corresponding to a time width T measured by said voltage detecting means. .Iaddend..Iadd.18. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 17, wherein said time width T is added to a weighted average of said predetermined reference time value T1. .Iaddend..Iadd.19. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a photometric switch associated with said camera, wherein said charging time-limit selecting means selects a first charging time from said plurality of charging times when said photometric switch associated with said camera is activated, and selects a second charging time from said plurality of charging times when said photometric switch is not activated. .Iaddend..Iadd.20. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 19, wherein said first charging time is shorter than said second charging time. .Iaddend..Iadd.21. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a photometric switch associated with said camera, wherein said charging voltage limit selecting means selects a first charge limit voltage from said plurality of charge limit voltages when said photometric switch associated with said camera is activated, and selects a second change limit voltage from said plurality of charge limit voltages when said photometric switch is not activated. .Iaddend..Iadd.22. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 21, wherein said first charge limit voltage is smaller than said second charge limit voltage.
- .Iaddend..Iadd. . The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 19, wherein said charging voltage limit selecting means selects a first charge limit voltage from said plurality of charge limit voltages when said photometric switch is activated, and selects a second charge limit voltage from said plurality of charge limit voltages when said photometric switch is not activated. .Iaddend..Iadd.24. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 23, wherein said first charge limit voltage is smaller than said second charge limit voltage. .Iaddend..Iadd.25. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 13, further comprising control means for producing a first predetermined value, wherein said predetermined charge prohibit time is incremented by said first predetermined value when a charging of said strobe is completed. .Iaddend..Iadd.26. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 13, further comprising control means for producing a predetermined value, wherein said predetermined charge prohibit time is decreased by said predetermined value every time when a predetermined time period elapses, between a completion of said charging of said strobe and a flashing of said strobe. .Iaddend..Iadd.27. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 25, wherein said control means produces a second predetermined value and said predetermined charge prohibit time is decreased by said second predetermined value every time when a predetermined time period elapses, between a completion of said charging of said strobe and a flashing of said strobe. .Iaddend..Iadd.28. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 27, wherein said first predetermined
- value is larger than said second predetermined value. .Iaddend..Iadd.29. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 13, wherein said predetermined charge prohibit time is determined according to the following equation:
- Tw=n.multidot.t,
- where
- Tw is equal to said predetermined charge prohibit time,
- n is equal to a prohibiting time data value, and
- t is equal to a predetermined unit time. .Iaddend..Iadd.30. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for obtaining said predetermined charge prohibit time by incrementing said prohibiting time data value by two when a charging of said strobe is completed, while said predetermined charge prohibit time is obtained by decrementing said prohibiting time data value by one every time when a predetermined time period elapses, between a completion of said charging of said strobe and a flashing of said strobe. .Iaddend..Iadd.31. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for setting said predetermined charge prohibit time to zero when said prohibiting time data value does not exceed a first predetermined value. .Iaddend..Iadd.32. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for setting said predetermined charge prohibit time to a preset maximum value when said prohibiting time data value is more than a predetermined value. .Iaddend..Iadd.33. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 31, wherein said means for setting sets said predetermined charge prohibit time to a preset maximum value when said prohibiting time data value is more than a second predetermined value. .Iaddend..Iadd.34. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 13, wherein when said predetermined charge prohibit time elapses, said charge prohibiting means is not activated until after a next charging is completed. .Iaddend..Iadd.35. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 25, wherein said control means does not increment said predetermined charge prohibit time by said first predetermined value if said charging means charges said strobe for less than a preselected time period. .Iaddend..Iadd.36. The strobe controlling apparatus of claim 26, wherein said control means decrements said predetermined charge prohibit time until said predetermined charge prohibit time becomes a certain value. .Iaddend.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
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1-62646 |
Mar 1989 |
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1-62647 |
Mar 1989 |
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Parent Case Info
.Iadd.This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/059,600, filed May 12, 1993, now abandoned, which is a reissue of application Ser. No. 07/494,237, filed Mar. 15, 1990, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,038. .Iaddend.
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Continuations (1)
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059600 |
May 1993 |
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Reissues (1)
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Number |
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494237 |
Mar 1990 |
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