Wireless remote control apparatus for camera

• US 5,323,203 A
• Filed: 12/10/1991
• Issued: 06/21/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Maruyama, Atsushi, Ide, Masataka
• Primary Examiner(s): Gray, David M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Spyrou, Cassandra
• Application Number:
  US07/808,071
• Time in Patent Office: 924 Days
• Field of Search: 354/410, 354/412, 354/411, 354/67, 354/435, 354/441, 354/456, 354/266, 340/825.64, 340/825.76
• US Class Current: 396/57
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/38 Releasing-devices separate from shutter integral with shutter G03B9/08

Abstract

A wireless camera remote control apparatus comprises a transmitter unit for transmitting an activating pulse and a plurality of code pulse signals corresponding to given operations of the camera; and a receiver unit responsive to a code defined by the plurality of code pulses for causing the camera to execute a given operation. The wireless camera remote control apparatus has an immunity to disturbance noise and a reduced power consumption.

Claims

1. A wireless remote control apparatus comprising a receiver circuit for use in connection with a camera having a camera body and an independent transmitter unit;

said independent transmitter unit including means for generating a single start pulse for activating said receiver circuit of said camera and four code pulses spaced by predetermined intervals to represent a predetermined number of code combinations, each combination corresponding to a given operation of the camera, said code pulse signals being generated a predetermined time after generation of said single start pulse;

transmitting means for transmitting said activating pulse signal and code pulse signals;

said receiver circuit including means for detecting the single start pulse and four code pulses transmitted from the transmitting means and means normally deactivated for decoding the code pulse signals when activated;

means for activating said decoding means in response to only the single start pulse of the pulses detected by said detecting means;

said decoding means being responsive to said means for activating for decoding only the code pulses to determine the camera operation represented by the intervals among the code pulse signals detected by said detecting means; and

means for causing the camera to execute a predetermined operation in accordance with the combination of intervals between the code pulse signals decoded by said decoding means, said receiver circuit including discriminating means for determining whether or not the intervals between the code pulse signals detected after the single start pulse are equal to predetermined intervals and for neglecting the code pulses as noise when at least one of the intervals between the detected code pulse signals is not equal to said predetermined intervals.

2. A wireless remote control apparatus for a camera as defined in claim 1 in which said camera includes a camera body, said transmitting means being detachably mounted on said camera body.

3. A wireless remote control apparatus for a camera as defined in claim 1 in which intervals among said code pulses are not an integer multiple of a period of noise from commercial electric power which is one of 50 cycle a.c. or 60 cycle a.c.

4. A wireless remote control apparatus for a camera as defined in claim 3 in which a period of noise from commercial electrical power which is one of 50 cycle a.c. or 60 cycle a.c. is 10 msec or 8.3 msec, respectively.

5. A wireless remote control apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said predetermined time is not an integer multiple of the time intervals between code pulses and is 120 msec.

6. A wireless remote control apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said transmitting means includes a light emitting element for generating infrared light pulses.

7. A wireless remote control apparatus as defined in claim 6 in which said infrared light pulses have a wave length in the range of approximately 900 to 950 nm.

8. A camera system comprising a camera and a wireless remote control transmitter for remotely controlling the camera;

said remote control transmitter including means for transmitting a pulse train having an activating pulse for changing a control circuit in the camera from a standby state of reduced power consumption during which no code pulse evaluation can be performed to an operating state during which code pulse evaluation and photographing operations may be performed and execution pulses transmitted a given period of time after the activating pulse,

said camera including

means for receiving the pulse train transmitted from the transmitter; and

control means which assumes the operating state from the standby state responsive only to receipt of the activating pulse of the received pulse train and executes a predetermined operation mode of the camera instructed only by the received execution pulses following the received activating pulse;

means responsive to completion of said predetermined operation mode of the camera for returning the camera to the standby state; and

said control means being returned to the standby state without executing the predetermined operation mode when at least one execution pulse has not been received for a predetermined period of time after a reception of an activating pulse.

9. A camera system comprising a camera and a remote control transmitter for remotely controlling the camera:

said remote control transmitter including means for transmitting an infrared light as a control signal including a single start pulse and a plurality of code pulses separated by predetermined intervals, combinations of said intervals representing a plurality of transmission codes;

said camera including means for receiving the control signal transmitted from the transmitter and

control means for executing a predetermined operating mode of the camera represented by a signal received from said transmitter;

said receiving means providing an activating output upon receipt of said single start pulse; and

means responsive to said activating output for comparing an arrangement of pulse intervals among the plurality of said code pulses with preliminarily preset combinations of pulse intervals among code pulses stored in a memory means and operating said control means for executing a predetermined operation stored in said memory means and associated with a stored preset combination whose intervals are the same as a combination of intervals of code pulses received by said means for receiving.

10. A camera system as defined in claim 9 in which intervals among the plurality of said pulses are not integer multiples of a period of noises emitted from a commercial power source which is one of 50 cycle a.c. and or 60 cycle a.c.

11. A camera system comprising a camera and a remote control transmitter for remotely controlling the camera;

said remote control transmitter including means for transmitting an infrared light pulses as a control signal including a train of a single activating pulse for changing a control circuit in the camera from a standby state of reduced power consumption to an operative state of increased power consumption and a plurality of code pulses transmitted a predetermined period of time after the single activating pulse, so that one of a plurality of operating modes of the camera is instructed by specifying intervals among the code pulses;

said camera including;

means for receiving the control signal transmitted from the remote control transmitter; and

control means which assumes the operative state from the standby state responsive only to the single activating pulse of a control signal received from said transmitter and executes a predetermined operating mode of the camera instructed by code pulses received by said control means and following the received single activating pulse; and

means for comparing pulse intervals among a plurality of code pulses received from said transmitter with preliminarily preset combinations of intervals among code pulses stored in a memory and for executing a predetermined operating mode instructed by one of the preliminarily preset combinations of intervals among code pulses stored in said memory when intervals of code pulses received from said transmitter are the same as the intervals of one of the preliminarily preset combinations of intervals among code pulses stored in said memory.

12. A camera system as defined in claim 11 further comprising means responsive to completion of said predetermined operation mode of the camera for returning the camera to the standby state.

13. A remote control transceiver for remotely controlling a camera, comprising:

means for transmitting an infrared light pulse train as a control signal including a train of a single activating pulse for changing a control circuit in the camera from a standby state of reduced power consumption to an operating state of increased power consumption and during which code pulses can be evaluated and a plurality of code pulses transmitted a predetermined period of time after the single activating pulse for controlling a camera operation; and

switching means for changing pulse intervals among the plurality of the code pulses;

each intervals among the plurality of said code pulses being different from an integer multiple of a period of noises emitted from a commercial power source which is one of 50 cycle a.c. or 60 cycle a.c.;

an interval Tc among the plurality of said code pulses being represented by an equation;

##EQU1## (wherein n, m represent any real integer not less than zero, and T1 and T2 represent periods of the noises emitted from commercial power source); and

means for changing the control circuit to the operating state responsive only to receipt of said activating pulse and means responsive to a predetermined combination of code pulse intervals for operating the camera in a photographing mode represented by the code pulses.

14. A camera system comprising a camera having a plurality of picture taking modes and a wireless remote control transmitter employing infrared light pulses as a control signal including a start pulse and a plurality of code pulses for remotely controlling the camera, which is detachably mounted on the camera,

said camera including means for detecting a removal of the transmitter from the camera to provide an instruction signal;

means responsive to the instruction signal from said detecting means for presetting an operating state of the camera to a remotely controlled picture taking mode during which a photographing operation may take place;

timing means being activated responsive to the instruction signal;

means for receiving said control signal transmitted from the remote control transmitter for remotely controlling a selection of a picture taking mode;

control means which changes to a standby state during which no photographing operations may take place when said timing means indicates a predetermined time has elapsed before receipt of a start pulse;

said control means changing from a standby state of reduced power consumption during which no evaluation of code pulses may take place to an active state in response to an activating pulse of the signal received by said receiving means including means activated to determine an operation represented by the code pulses responsive to said active state and means responsive to said determining means to execute a predetermined operation instructed by a plurality of code pulses received following the activating pulse;

second means for accumulating elapsed time responsive to initiation of the standby state; and

means for cancelling a remotely controlled picture taking mode to change the control means to an inoperative state when said second means accumulates a predetermined elapsed time.

15. A camera system as defined in claim 14 further comprising means responsive to completion of said predetermined operation mode of the camera for returning the camera to the standby state.

16. A camera system as defined in claim 14 wherein said cancelling means comprises timing means and means for initiating a cancelling operation when said timing means reaches a predetermined time value before a signal is received from said remote control transmitter.

17. A method of controlling a remotely controllable camera having a control means for transferring the camera to one of an operating state during which a picture taking operation may be performed and a standby state of reduced power consumption during which no picture taking operation may be performed, comprising the steps of:

providing operating power to the camera thereby placing the camera in the operating state;

placing the camera in a standby state if no activating signal is received a predetermined time after initiation of the operating state;

generating, at a location remote from said camera, an infrared remote control signal having an activating pulse followed by selective code pulses arranged at predetermined intervals to initiate a picture taking operation;

changing the standby state of the camera to said operating state in response to receipt of only the activating pulse; and

executing a predetermined camera operation in accordance with a predetermined arrangement of intervals of a plurality of received code pulses following the activating pulse.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of returning the camera to the standby state when the predetermined operation has been performed.

19. A method of controlling a remotely controllable camera having a control means for transferring the camera to one of an operating state during which a photographing operation may be performed and a standby state of reduced power consumption during which no photographing operation may be performed, comprising the steps of:

generating from a location remote from the camera an infrared remote control signal having a single activating pulse and selective code pulses to initiate a picture taking operation;

changing a standby state of the camera into said operating state in response to only the activating pulse of the remote control signal applied to an infrared signal receiving means;

receiving the control signal and comparing the arrangement of intervals among a plurality of the code pulses following the activating pulse with a group of preliminarily preset pulse interval arrangements stored in the camera, each pulse interval arrangement being associated with a predetermined camera operating mode; and

executing a predetermined operation of the camera in accordance with an operating mode associated with a code pulse interval arrangement which compares with a received code pulse interval arrangement.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of returning the camera to the standby state when a predetermined operation has been performed.

21. A camera system comprising a camera and a wireless remote control transmitter for remotely controlling the camera, which is detachably mounted on a camera body of the camera,

said remote control transmitter including means for transmitting an infrared control signal including a composite signal comprised of a single activating pulse and a plurality of code pulses occurring at selected spaced intervals from said single activating pulse;

said camera including;

means for receiving the control signal from said transmitter;

control means having a standby state for preventing evaluation of code pulses and a camera operating state for enabling evaluation of code pulses to selected a predetermined photographing operation, said standby state requiring less operating power than said camera operating state;

said control means further including means responsive only to receipt of said single activating pulse by said receiving means for shifting said control means from said standby state to said camera operating state;

said control means further including means responsive only to code pulses received for operating the camera according to a camera operating mode represented by predetermined intervals of received code pulses.

22. A camera system as defined in claim 21 wherein said control means comprises a microprocessor having clock means and a program counter, said program counter being off and said clock means being on in said standby state and said clock means and said program counter being on when in the camera operating state.

23. A camera system comprising a camera and a wireless remote control transmitter for remotely controlling the camera, which is detachably mounted on a camera body of the camera,

said remote control transmitter including means for transmitting an infrared control signal including a composite signal comprised of an activating pulse and a plurality of code pulses occurring at selected spaced intervals from said activating pulse;

said camera including;

means for receiving the control signal from said transmitter;

control means having a standby state for preventing evaluation of code pulses and a camera operating state for enabling evaluation of code pulses to select a predetermined photographing operation, said standby state requiring less operating power than said camera operating state;

said control means further including means responsive only to receipt of said activating pulse by said receiving means for shifting said control means from said standby state to said camera operating state;

said control means further including means responsive only to code pulses received for operating the camera according to a camera operating mode represented by predetermined intervals of received code pulses;

timing means for initiating a timing interval when in the standby state and means for shifting the control means to a sleep state when said timing means reaches a predetermined value before the camera receives a signal from said transmitter.

24. A camera as defined in claim 23 wherein said control means further including means to prevent operation of the camera by said transmitter after being shifted to the sleep state.

25. A camera as defined in claim 24 further comprising a manually operable member, said control means including means responsive only to operation of said manually operable member for shifting said control means from said sleep state to said operating state.

26. A camera as defined in claim 23 wherein said clock means is turned off during said sleep state.

27. A method for operating a camera having a control unit from a remote location by a wireless transmitter releasably mounted upon the camera comprising the steps of:

(a) sequentially transmitting a single start pulse and a group of at least three code pulses, a first one of the code pulses being spaced a predetermined interval from said start pulse sufficient in length to enable the control unit to turn on and each of the remaining code pulses being spaced from the preceding pulse by an interval of either a first or second length each different from said predetermined interval whereby each combination of intervals represents a particular operating mode;

(b) detecting the transmitted pulses at said camera;

(c) turning the control unit on responsive only to said start pulse;

(d) counting the number of code pulses;

(e) counting the time between each code pulse and the next occurring code pulse to determine the time interval between successive code pulses;

(f) comparing the measured time intervals with time intervals in a time interval table stored in a camera memory and representing a plurality of combinations of time intervals, when the count of the number of code pulses reaches a predetermined value; and

(g) performing a camera operation responsive to an operation stored in said memory and associated with a group of time intervals of said table which compares with the measured time intervals.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein step (e) further comprises the step of returning to step (a) when a time interval measured between any two successive code pulses exceeds a predetermined value.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the transmitted pulses are light pulses of a predetermined wave length.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the light pulses lie within the infrared range.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the light pulses are within the range of 900-950 nanometers.

32. The method of claim 29 wherein the time intervals between successive code pulses are non-integer multiples of noise produced by 50 Hz and/or 60 Hz power sources.

33. The method of claim 27 wherein intervals between successive code pulses is one of two time intervals including 45.8 milliseconds and 54.2 milliseconds.

34. The method of claim 27 wherein the time interval employed in step (e) is greater than a maximum acceptable interval, said maximum acceptable interval being 54.2 milliseconds and said predetermined value is 60 milliseconds.

35. A method of controlling a remotely controllable camera having a control means for transferring the camera to one of an operating state during which a picture taking operation may be performed and a standby state of reduced power consumption during which no picture taking operation may be performed, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing operating power to the camera thereby placing the camera in the operating state;

(b) placing the camera in a standby state if no activating signal is received a predetermined time after initiation of the operating state;

(c) generating, at a location remote from said camera, an infrared remote control signal having a single activating pulse followed by selective code pulses arranged at predetermined intervals to initiate a picture taking operation;

(d) changing the standby state of the camera to said operating state in response to receipt of the single activating pulse;

(e) initiating a count representing elapsed time responsive to receipt of a first code pulse;

(f) incrementing a second count when each code pulse makes a given change in signal level;

(g) stopping the count initiated in step (e) upon receipt of a succeeding code pulse;

(h) storing an accumulated count halted in step (g);

(i) repeating steps (e) through (h) until the second count initiated in step (f) reaches a predetermined count;

(j) comparing the counts stored during each of the repeated steps (h) with predetermined stored values; and

(k) rejecting the received signals as noise when at least one of the counts stored in steps (h) is different from an associated stored count.

36. A method of controlling a remotely controllable camera having a control means for transferring the camera to one of an operating state during which a picture taking operation may be performed and a standby state of reduced power consumption during which no picture taking operation may b performed, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing operating power to the camera thereby placing the camera in the operating state;

(b) placing the camera in a standby state if no activating signal is received a predetermined time after initiation of the operating state;

(c) generating, at a location remote from said camera, an infrared remote control signal having a single activating pulse followed by selective code pulses arranged at predetermined intervals to initiate a picture taking operation;

(d) changing the standby state of the camera to said operating state in response to receipt of the single activating pulse;

(e) initiating a count representing elapsed time responsive to receipt of a first code pulse;

(f) terminating the count upon receipt of the next code pulse; and

(g) employing the accumulated count and determining the count to be valid when it compares with a stored reference value.

37. A method of controlling a remotely controllable camera having a control means for transferring the camera to one of an operating state during which a picture taking operation may be performed and a standby state of reduced power consumption during which no picture taking operation may be performed, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing operating power to the camera thereby placing the camera in the operating state;

(b) placing the camera in a standby state if no activating signal is received a predetermined time after initiation of the operating state;

(c) generating, at a location remote from said camera, an infrared remote control signal having a single activating pulse followed by selective code pulses arranged at predetermined intervals to initiate a picture taking operation;

(d) changing the standby state of the camera to said operating state in response to receipt of the single activating pulse;

(e) counting elapsed time between code pulses;

(f) disregarding the code pulses as noise when they fall outside of predetermined limits; and

(g) performing a control function when elapsed times between code pulses compare with a stored predetermined elapsed time combination representing said control function.