Abstract:
A camera case capable of stopping a movement of the lens barrier provided on a camera if the camera receives an accidental shock. The camera case can contain a camera having an image-taking lens, and a lens barrier movable between a closed position for covering the image-taking lens and an opened position for exposing the image-taking lens. The camera case comprises a case body; and a stopper which stops the movement of the lens barrier of the camera contained in the case body.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to camera cases used for taking images underwater with cameras. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A waterproof camera in which a film unit with a lens is contained in a waterproof case has been used (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2000-194048). This waterproof camera includes a function required for image-taking and has a waterproof transparent plastic case for enabling underwater image-taking. 
   This kind of camera is an integrated waterproof camera in which the case cannot be opened and closed by a user. Therefore condensation on the inner surface of the case, especially on the lens surface, by a water temperature change considerably affects the image-taking. 
   The waterproof camera disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2000-194048 has a dehumidifying means inside of the case. 
   A waterproof case having divided front and rear cases which can be opened and closed has been proposed. This waterproof case makes it easy to wipe away water drops created by condensation. 
   There have been digital cameras equipped with a lens barrier slidable between a closed position for covering the image-taking lens and an opened position for exposing the lens.  FIGS. 7 and 8  show a conventional waterproof case having a transparent housing for containing such a digital camera. 
     FIGS. 7 and 8  are front and top views of the conventional waterproof case, respectively.  101  denotes the waterproof case which can contain a digital camera  201 . The waterproof case  101  comprises front and rear case  102  and  103  which are made of transparent polycarbonate (PC), hinges  104  connecting the front case  102  with the rear case  103  openably and closably, an unillustrated packing which is fitted in an unillustrated groove formed on the matching portion of the front and rear cases  102  and  103 , and a clip  105  for fixing the closed front and rear cases  102  and  103 . 
   The front case  102  has a lens window  106 , and a shutter button  107  and a zoom lever  108  as operation members. The rear case  103  has an operation button unit  109  including operation members. These operation members are connected to respective operation buttons provided on the digital camera  201  when the digital camera  201  is set inside of the case  101 , thereby making it possible to operate the digital camera underwater in the same manner as the digital camera  201  not contained in the case  101 . 
   Inside the waterproof case  101 , the digital camera  201  is fixed by an unillustrated rib provided on the waterproof case  101  so that the image-taking optical axis of the digital camera  201  may be substantially matched to the center of the lens window  106 . The digital camera  201  has a lens barrel  202  holding an image-taking lens, and a lens barrier  203  is provided on the camera body. The lens barrier  203  is slidable between the above-described closed and opened positions. 
   In  FIG. 7 , the camera  201  is powered on, and the lens barrier  203  is opened for enabling image-taking. 
   However, when the waterproof case  101  that has been set in the state showing in  FIG. 7  receives a shock, there is a possibility that the lens barrier  203  will move in the direction to the closed position from the opened position. For example, the possibility occurs in a case where a scuba diver holding the waterproof case  101 , which has been set in the state showing in  FIG. 7  on the boat, dives into the sea. 
   Then, the detection of the movement of the lens barrier  203  in the direction to the closed position by a lens barrier position detection means provided in the digital camera  201  causes the lens barrel  202  to collapse into the camera body automatically. In other words, image-taking with the camera  201  becomes impossible. 
   As a result, the user has to resurface once, open the case  101 , operate the lens barrier  203  to the opened position to set the digital camera  201  in an image-taking state, and then close the case  101 . 
   In contrast, in a case where the waterproof case  101  is used as a carrying case, the user can carry the case  101  containing the digital camera  201  in which the lens barrier  203  has been moved to the closed position. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the camera  201  from contacting obstacles directly to protect the camera  201 . 
   However, the movement, which is caused by a shock on the waterproof case  101 , of the lens barrier  203  in the direction to the opened position from the closed position causes the digital camera to power on. Thereby, the electric power is wasted until the camera  201  is powered off (the lens barrier  203  is returned to the closed position) by the user or the camera  201  comes into a sleep state automatically. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   One object of the present invention is to provide a camera case assuredly capable of stopping a movement of a lens barrier equipped with a camera if the camera receives an accidental shock. 
   The camera case that is an aspect of the present invention can contain a camera having an image-taking lens, and a lens barrier movable between a closed position for covering the image-taking lens and an opened position for exposing the image-taking lens. The camera case comprises a case body; and a stopper which stops the movement of the lens barrier of the camera contained in the case body. 
   Other objects and further features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments with reference to accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a front view showing the camera case that is Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a top view showing the camera case of Embodiment 1. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  are sectional views showing the camera case of Embodiment 1. 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  are sectional views showing the camera case that is Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  is a front view showing a conventional camera case. 
       FIG. 8  is a top view showing the conventional camera case. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   A description will now be given of the preferred embodiments of the present invention by referring to the accompanying drawings. 
   Embodiment 1 
     FIGS. 1 and 2  are front and top schematic views showing the structure of a waterproof case (camera case) for a digital camera, the waterproof case being Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 
     1  denotes a case body containing a digital camera  21 . The case body  1  is made of transparent polycarbonate (PC), and constituted by a front case  2  and a rear case  3  that is attached to the front case  2 . The case  2  is connected to the rear case  3  openably and closably by hinges  4 . An unillustrated packing is fitted in an unillustrated groove formed on the matching portion of the front and rear cases  2  and  3 . A clip  5  for fixing the closed front and rear cases  2  and  3  is provided on the case body  1 . 
   The front case  2  has a lens window  6 , and a shutter button  7  and a zoom lever  8  as operation members. The rear case  3  has an operation button unit  9  including operation members. These operation members are connected to respective operation buttons provided on the digital camera  21  when the digital camera  21  is contained inside of the case body  1 , thereby making it possible to operate the digital camera  21  underwater. In other words, it is possible to construct an image-taking system which can take images underwater. 
   Inside the waterproof case, a rib  1   a  for fixing the digital camera  21  to the case body  1  is provided (see  FIG. 3 ) Thereby, it is possible to fix the digital camera  21  in the case body  1  so that the image-taking optical axis of the digital camera  21  may be substantially matched to the center of the lens window  106 . 
   The digital camera  21  has a lens barrel  22  holding an image-taking lens. The lens barrel  22  can project from and collapse into the camera body. A slidable lens barrier  23  for protecting the front face of the image-taking lens in the non-image-taking state (collapsed state) is provided on the camera body. The lens barrier  23  is slidable along the front face of the camera body between a closed position for covering the front face of the collapsed lens barrel  22  and an opened position for opening (exposing) the front face of the lens barrel  22  to enable the lens barrel  22  to project. 
   In the image-taking state shown in  FIG. 1 , the lens barrier  23  is located at the opened position. Stopper mechanisms  10  and  11 , described later, are provided on the front case  2  at two positions in the vertical direction. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4  are sectional views of the waterproof case containing the digital camera when viewed from the bottom, the sectional views showing a horizontal section including the image-taking optical axis.  FIG. 3  shows a state in which the lens barrier  23  is located at the opened position, and  FIG. 4  shows a state in which the lens barrier  23  is located at the closed position. The configuration on the rear case  3  is omitted in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
   The stopper mechanism  10  is constituted by a stopper holding portion  10   a  having a pipe shape and formed integrally with the front case  2 , and a stopper  12  pushed into and fixed to the stopper holding portion  10   a . The stopper  12  is made of an elastic material. A hemispheric protrusion  12   a  is formed on the tip of the stopper  12 . The protrusion  12   a  pushes the lens barrier  23  located at the opened and closed positions to the camera body in the image-taking optical axis direction, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , respectively. The configuration of the stopper mechanism  11  is similar to that of the stopper mechanism  10 , including a stopper holding portion  10   a  and a stopper  12 , not shown in the figure. 
   These two stopper mechanisms  10  and  11  prevent the lens barrier  23  from sliding in the closing and opening directions shown by the arrow A in  FIG. 3  and the arrow B in  FIG. 4 , respectively, when the waterproof case containing the digital camera  21  receives a shock. 
   As described above, according to the present invention, the stoppers  12  made of the elastic material contact the front face of the lens barrier  23  located at the opened and closed positions with pressure. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lens barrier  23  of the digital camera  21  set in the waterproof case from moving when the waterproof case receives a shock. 
   Embodiment 2 
     FIGS. 5 and 6  are schematic views showing the structure of a waterproof case (camera case) for a digital camera, the camera case being Embodiment 1 of the present invention.  FIGS. 5 and 6  are sectional views of the waterproof case containing the digital camera when viewed from the bottom, the sectional views showing a horizontal section including the image-taking optical axis.  FIG. 5  shows a state in which the lens barrier  23  is located at the opened position, and  FIG. 6  shows a state in which the lens barrier  23  is located at the closed position. The configuration on the rear case  3  is omitted in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
   Components identical to those in Embodiment 1 are designated with the same reference numerals as those in Embodiment 1. 
   In the present embodiment, stopper mechanisms  30  are provided on the front case  2  at two positions in the vertical direction. 
   The stopper mechanism  30  is constituted by a stopper holding portion  31  having a pipe shape and formed integrally with the front case  2 , and a stopper  33  inserted into the stopper holding portion  31 , and a spring  32  which is contained in the stopper holding portion  31  and whose one end contacts the stopper  33 . The spring  32  biases the stopper  33  toward the front face of the camera  21  as shown by the arrow C. 
   The stopper  33  has a base portion  33   a  where the one end of the spring  32  contacts, and a barrier pushing portion  33   b  whose center is shifted from the base portion  33   a  in the closing direction of the lens barrier  23 . The tip of the barrier pushing portion  33   b  has a hemispheric shape. 
   As shown in  FIG. 5 , when the lens barrier  23  is located at the opened position, the barrier pushing portion  33   b  of the stopper  33  is protruded to a position adjacent to the side face of the lens barrier  23  by the biasing force of the spring  32 . Thereby, the movement of the lens barrier  23  in the closing direction is stopped. 
   As shown in  FIG. 6 , when the lens barrier  23  is located at the closed position, the tip of the barrier pushing portion  33   b  of the stopper  33  contacts the front face of the lens barrier  23  with pressure by the biasing force of the spring  32 . Thereby, the movement of the lens barrier  23  in the opening direction is stopped. 
   In Embodiment 1 described above, since the stopper  12  is made of an elastic material, the pressured contact force (that is, a force to stop the movement of the lens barrier  23 ) changes according to the size of the digital camera  21  or the stopper  12 . However, in the present embodiment, since the stopper  33  is biased by the spring  32 , it is possible to stop the movement of the lens barrier  23  stably if the size of the digital camera  21  or the stopper  12  is different in some degree. 
   In the above-described embodiments, the stopper contacts the lens barrier to stop the movement thereof. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the camera case of the present invention may have a magnet as a stopper which magnetically attracts a lens barrier made of metal. 
   This application claims foreign priority benefits based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-337078, filed on Nov. 22, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.