Driving control device and operation device

Abstract

A driving control device according to the present invention includes: a fixed member; an operation member arranged to be manually rotatable with respect to the fixed member; a transducer arranged in one of the fixed member and the operation member and arranged to come into contact with an opposed surface of the other of the fixed member and the operation member; a position detecting section for detecting a position of the operation member with respect to the fixed member; and an operation force amount control section for controlling driving of the transducer to change contact friction force generated when the transducer contacts with the fixed member or the operation member. The operation force amount control section controls the transducer such that the contact friction force applied to the operation member when the operation member is manually rotated with respect to the fixed member changes to a sense of click.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A driving control device comprising:
 a fixed member;   an operation member arranged to be manually rotatable with respect to the fixed member;   a transducer arranged in one of the fixed member and the operation member and arranged to come into contact with an opposed surface of the other of the fixed member and the operation member;   a position detecting section configured to detect a position of the operation member with respect to the fixed member; and   an operation force amount control section configured to control driving of the transducer to change contact friction force generated when the transducer comes into contact with the fixed member or the operation member, wherein   the operation force amount control section controls the transducer such that the contact friction force applied to the operation member when the operation member is manually rotated with respect to the fixed member changes to a sense of click.   
     
     
       2. The driving control device according to  claim 1 , wherein the operation force amount control section changes the sense of click according to a set mode. 
     
     
       3. The driving control device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the operation member is arranged to be capable of being manually slid with respect to the fixed member to change a mode, and   the operation force amount control section controls the transducer to reduce the contact friction force when the position detecting section detects that the operation member is displaced in a slide direction or displacement force is applied to the operation member.   
     
     
       4. The driving control device according to  claim 1 , wherein the transducer is brought into press contact with and urged to an inner circumferential surface of the operation member. 
     
     
       5. The driving control device according to  claim 4 , wherein the operation force amount control section controls to drive the transducer to change oscillation amplitude in a direction of the press contact with the inner circumferential surface of the operation member. 
     
     
       6. The driving control device according to  claim 1 , wherein, when the operation member is not manually operated, the operation force amount control section changes the transducer to a non-driven state and fixes and holds the operation member with the contact friction force and, when the position detecting section detects that manual operation of the operation member is started, the operation force amount control section controls to drive the transducer to reduce the contact friction force of the operation member and give a sense of click. 
     
     
       7. The driving control device according to  claim 1 , wherein the operation force amount control section controls a driving voltage of the transducer to change oscillation amplitude of the transducer to thereby control a click force amount. 
     
     
       8. The driving control device according to  claim 1 , wherein the operation force amount control section repeats supply and stop of a frequency voltage as a driving voltage of the transducer to thereby give a sense of click. 
     
     
       9. The driving control device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 when the operation member is manually rotated to a predetermined rotation position or when the operation member is manually rotated to pass the predetermined rotation position, the operation force amount control section increases the contact friction force applied to the operation member and reduces rotation resistance before the predetermined rotation position, and   the operation force amount control section controls the transducer to reset the contact friction force applied to the operation member in the predetermined position to an original contact friction force to thereby give a sense of click in the predetermined rotation position.   
     
     
       10. An operation device comprising:
 a fixed member;   an operation member arranged to be manually rotatable with respect to the fixed member;   a load member arranged in the fixed member and configured to apply a predetermined load to the operation member when the operation member rotates;   a transducer configured to frictionally come into contact with the load member in a state in which the transducer is pressed against the load member;   a position detecting section configured to detect a relative position of the operation member with respect to the fixed member or the load member;   an operation mode setting section configured to set an operation mode; and   an operation sense control section configured to control oscillation applied to the load member by the transducer to thereby change a sense of operation obtained from the operation member when the operation member is rotationally operated, wherein   the operation sense control section causes the operation member to generate a sense of click corresponding to the set operation mode on the basis of an output from the position detecting section.   
     
     
       11. The operation device according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the load member includes a first rotation member that rotates in association with the rotation of the operation member and a second rotation member that is rotatably coupled to the first rotation member and in friction contact with the transducer in a state in which the second rotation member is pressed to the transducer side, and   when the first rotation member is given rotation force via the operation member, rotation driving force from the first rotation member to the second rotation member is controlled by oscillation from the transducer.   
     
     
       12. The operation device according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the operation member is arranged to be capable of sliding to a first position or a second position along a rotation axis of the operation member, and   when the operation member slides to the first position, the first rotation member moves to a position where the first rotation member can transmit driving force to the second rotation member and, when the operation member slides to the second position, the first rotation member moves to a position where the first rotation member cannot transmit driving force to the second rotation member.   
     
     
       13. The operation device according to  claim 12 , further comprising a slide start detecting section configured to detect that the operation member starts sliding to the first position or the second position, wherein
 the operation sense control section changes the transducer to a non-driven state and fixes and holds the second rotation member when the slide start detecting section detects that the operation member starts sliding.   
     
     
       14. The operation device according to  claim 10 , further comprising a storing section configured to store a mode and a setting item of the mode and a period for giving the sense of click to correspond to the setting item, wherein
 when the operation mode is set, the operation sense control section reads out the set mode and setting item of the mode and the period corresponding to the setting item from the storing section and controls the transducer on the basis of read-out content to change the oscillation applied to the load member.   
     
     
       15. The operation device according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the operation sense control section includes a piezoelectric body control section configured to control the transducer, and   the piezoelectric body control section controls a click force amount by changing oscillation amplitude in a direction in which the transducer and the load member are pressed to come into press contact with each other.   
     
     
       16. The operation device according to  claim 10 , wherein the operation sense control section gives the sense of click by repeating supply and stop of a frequency voltage, which is a driving voltage for driving the transducer. 
     
     
       17. The operation device according to  claim 10 , wherein
 when the operation member is manually rotated to right from a first rotation position to a reference position, the operation sense control section performs control to gradually increase, for a predetermined time, first contact friction force applied to the operation member in the first rotation position and then change the first contact friction force to second contact friction force and gradually decrease the second contact friction force for the predetermined time and then change the second contact friction force to the first contact friction force, and   when the operation member is manually rotated to left from the second rotation position to the reference position, the operation sense control section performs control to gradually increase, for the predetermined time, the first contact friction force applied to the operation member in the second rotation position and then change the first contact friction force to the second contact friction force and gradually decrease the second contact friction force for the predetermined time to change the second contact friction force to the first contact friction force,   the operation sense control section thereby enabling an operator to switch the operation member in the same reference position after the sense of click is given irrespective of whether the operation member is rotated to the right or rotated to the left.   
     
     
       18. The operation device according to  claim 10 , wherein when the operation member is not manually operated, the operation sense control section controls to drive the transducer to be in, a non-driven state and fix and hold the operation member with contact friction force, and when the position detecting section detects that rotation operation of the operation member is started, to reduce the contact friction force of the operation member and give a sense of click corresponding to the set mode. 
     
     
       19. A digital camera comprising:
 a fixed member;   an operation ring rotatable with respect to the fixed member, the operation ring including on a surface thereof a plurality of recesses;   a switch configured to be switched between two states, one of the two states being a regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is present, and the other of the two states being a non-regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is absent, the two states corresponding to two assigned functions of the operation ring in a photographing mode, the two functions being switched irrespective of a function other than the two functions when the switch is switched to one of the two states; and   a load control mechanism that regulates rotation of the operation ring in a state of being engaged with the recesses of the operation ring when the switch is switched to the regulated state,   wherein the regulated state has an assigned discrete diaphragm value and the non-regulated state has an assigned continuous value of focus, and   the operation ring is rotatable to generate an output corresponding to an assigned function of a state switched to by the switch.    
     
     
       20. The digital camera according to claim 19, wherein
 the fixed member includes an engaging portion that engages with the switch, and   when the operation ring slides to move to either a first position or a second position in an optical axis direction, the switch engages with the engaging portion to perform switching to either one of the two states.    
     
     
       21. The digital camera according to claim 20, wherein when a half-pressing of a shutter is detected, a function assigned to the operation ring is controlled as focus, and regulation by the load control mechanism is cancelled.  
     
     
       22. A controlling method of a digital camera comprising:
 causing an operation ring to rotate with respect to a fixed member, the operation ring including on a surface thereof a plurality of recesses;   switching, by a switch, between two states, one of the two states being a regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is present, and the other of the two states being a non-regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is absent, the two states corresponding to two functions assigned to the operation ring in a photographing mode, the two functions being switched irrespective of a function other than the two functions when the switch is switched to one of the two states; and   regulating, by a load control mechanism, rotation of the operation ring in a state where the load control mechanism is engaged with the recesses of the operation ring when the switch is switched to the regulated state,   wherein a discrete diaphragm value is assigned to the regulated state and a continuous output value of focus is assigned to the non-regulated state, and   output corresponding to a function assigned to a state selected by the switch is performed through the rotation operation of the operation ring.    
     
     
       23. A digital camera comprising:
 a fixed member;   an operation ring rotatable with respect to the fixed member, the operation ring including on a surface thereof a plurality of recesses;   a switch configured to be switched between two states, one of the two states being a regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is present, and the other of the two states being a non-regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is absent, the two states corresponding to two assigned functions of the operation ring in a photographing mode, the two functions being switched irrespective of a function other than the two functions when the switch is switched to one of the two states; and   a load control mechanism that controls rotation resistance at a time when the operation ring rotates in a state where the load control mechanism is engaged with the recesses of the operation ring when the switch is switched to the regulated state,   wherein the load control mechanism causes the operation ring to generate a sense of click when the operation ring is manually rotated with respect to the fixed member.    
     
     
       24. The digital camera according to claim 23, further comprising position detecting means that detects a rotation position of the operation ring with respect to the fixed member, wherein
 the load control mechanism causes the operation ring to generate a sense of click based on an output from the position detecting means.    
     
     
       25. The digital camera according to claim 24, wherein the load control mechanism includes
 load means arranged in the fixed member, the load means being configured to apply a predetermined load to the operation ring when the operation ring rotates, and   a transducer configured to frictionally come into contact with the load means in a state where the transducer is pressed against the load means.    
     
     
       26. A digital camera comprising:
 a fixed member;   an operation ring rotatable with respect to the fixed member, the operation ring including on a surface thereof a plurality of recesses;   a switch configured to be switched between two states, one of the two states being a regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is present, and the other of the two states being a non-regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is absent, the two states corresponding to two assigned functions of the operation ring in a photographing mode, the two functions being switched when the switch is switched to one of the two states; and   a load control mechanism that regulates rotation of the operation ring in a state of being engaged with the recesses of the operation ring when the switch is switched to the regulated state,   wherein the regulated state has an assigned discrete diaphragm value and the non-regulated state has an assigned continuous value of focus, and   the operation ring is rotatable to generate an output corresponding to an assigned function of a state switched to by the switch.    
     
     
       27. A controlling method of a digital camera comprising:
 causing an operation ring to rotate with respect to a fixed member, the operation ring including on a surface thereof a plurality of recesses;   switching, by a switch, between two states, one of the two states being a regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is present, and the other of the two states being a non-regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is absent, the two states corresponding to two functions assigned to the operation ring in a photographing mode, the two functions being switched when the switch is switched to one of the two states; and   regulating, by a load control mechanism, rotation of the operation ring in a state where the load control mechanism is engaged with the recesses of the operation ring when the switch is switched to the regulated state,   wherein a discrete diaphragm value is assigned to the regulated state and a continuous output value of focus is assigned to the non-regulated state, and   output corresponding to a function assigned to a state selected by the switch is performed through the rotation operation of the operation ring.    
     
     
       28. A digital camera comprising:
 a fixed member;   an operation ring rotatable with respect to the fixed member, the operation ring including on a surface thereof a plurality of recesses;   a switch configured to be switched between two states, one of the two states being a regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is present, and the other of the two states being a non-regulated state in which rotation regulation of the operation ring is absent, the two states corresponding to two assigned functions of the operation ring in a photographing mode, the two states being switched independently of a third function other than the two functions; and   a load control mechanism that regulates rotation of the operation ring in a state of being engaged with the recesses of the operation ring when the switch is switched to the regulated state,   wherein the regulated state has an assigned discrete diaphragm value and the non-regulated state has an assigned continuous value of focus, and   the operation ring is rotatable to generate an output corresponding to an assigned function of a state switched to by the switch.