Flash unit having movable light emitting unit and image pickup apparatus equipped with flash unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10057472-B2
Application number	US-201715656631-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2017
Priority date	Jul 29, 2016
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

An image pickup apparatus equipped with a flash unit that is capable of popping up a light emitting unit even if a display panel is directed to a photographing direction. The flash unit is provided on an upper face of a body of the image pickup apparatus and includes three parallel rotating shafts, a first support member that is rotatably connected with the light emitting unit through the first rotating shaft, and a second support member that is rotatably connected with the first support member through the second rotating shaft and is rotatably connected with the body through the third rotating shaft. The light emitting unit is movable between a light-emitting position projected and a retracted position inside the body even if the display unit is in a stand-up position that is rotated from a regular position opposite to a back face of the body by 180 degrees.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image pickup apparatus comprising:
a display unit that is arranged rotatably between a regular position opposite to a back face of a body of the image pickup apparatus and a stand-up position that is rotated from the regular position by about 180 degrees so as to stand up from an upper face of the body; and
a flash unit that is provided on the upper face of the body so that a light emitting unit is movable between a light-emitting position that is projected from the body and a retracted position that is retracted inside the body, said flash unit comprising:
a first rotating shaft, a second rotating shaft, and a third rotating shaft that are arranged in parallel mutually;
a first support member that is rotatably connected with the light emitting unit through said first rotating shaft; and
a second support member that is rotatably connected with said first support member through said second rotating shaft and is rotatably connected with the body through said third rotating shaft,
wherein said third rotating shaft is arranged more on a side of the back face of the body than said first rotating shaft and said second rotating shaft is arranged more on a side of a front face of the body than said first rotating shaft in a case where the light emitting unit is in the retracted position, and
wherein the light emitting unit is movable between the retracted position and the light-emitting position even in a case where said display unit is in the stand-up position.

2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said third rotating shaft is arranged more on the side of the back face than a front face of said display unit in the case where said display unit is in the stand-up position.

3. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a rotating shaft of said display unit and said third rotating shaft are provided side by side in an axial direction of said third rotating shaft.

4. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a rotating shaft of said display unit and said third rotating shaft are arranged on an approximately same axis.

5. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said first rotating shaft is arranged more on the side of the front face of the body than a front face of said display unit in the case where said display unit is in the stand-up position.

6. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said light emitting unit are in a said retracted position, a said second rotating shaft is arranged more on a side of a bottom face of the body than said third rotating shaft in the case where the light emitting unit is in the retracted position.

7. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first energizing member that gives energization force that spreads an angle between the light emitting unit and said first support member to the light emitting unit and said first support member; and
a second energizing member that gives energization force that spreads an angle between said first support member and said second support member to said first support member and said second support member,
wherein the energization force of said second energizing member is larger than the energization force of said first energizing member in the case where the light emitting unit is in the retracted position.

8. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first energizing member that gives energization force that spreads an angle between the light emitting unit and said first support member to the light emitting unit and said first support member;
a second energizing member that gives energization force that spreads an angle between said first support member and said second support member to said first support member and said second support member; and
a third energizing member that gives energization force that rotates said second support member around said third rotating shaft to said second support member,
wherein the energization force of said first energizing member is larger than the energization force of said second energizing member, and the energization force of said third energizing member is larger than the energization force of said first energizing member in a case where the light emitting unit is in the light-emitting position.

9. A flash unit provided in an image pickup apparatus, the flash unit comprising:
a first rotating shaft, a second rotating shaft, and a third rotating shaft that are arranged in parallel mutually;
a light emitting unit and a first support member that are mutually and rotatably connected through said first rotating shaft;
a second support member that is rotatably connected with said first support member through said second rotating shaft and is rotatably connected with the image pickup apparatus through said third rotating shaft;
a first energizing member that gives energization force that spreads an angle between the light emitting unit and said first support member to the light emitting unit and said first support member;
a second energizing member that gives energization force that spreads an angle between said first support member and said second support member to said first support member and said second support member; and
a third energizing member that gives energization force that rotates said second support member around said third rotating shaft to said second support member,
wherein said third rotating shaft is arranged more on a side of a back face of the image pickup apparatus than said first rotating shaft and said second rotating shaft is arranged more on a side of a front face of the image pickup apparatus than said first rotating shaft in a case where said light emitting unit is in a retracted position that is retracted inside the image pickup apparatus, and
wherein said light emitting unit is moved from the retracted position to a light-emitting position that is projected from the image pickup apparatus when said light emitting unit rotates around said first rotating shaft by a predetermined angle according to the energization force of said first energizing member, said first support member rotates around said second rotating shaft by a predetermined angle according to the energization force of said second energizing member, and said second support member rotates around said third rotating shaft by a predetermined angle according to the energization force of said third energizing member.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Furuta Takashi

Classifications

• H04N23/56 Primary

  provided with illuminating means · CPC title

• H04N23/51

  Housings · CPC title

• H04N23/63

  by using electronic viewfinders · CPC title

• G03B13/02 Primary

  Viewfinders · CPC title

• G03B15/0442

  Constructional details of the flash apparatus; Arrangement of lamps, reflectors, or the like (G03B15/0484 takes precedence) · CPC title