1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a strobe device and a camera having the strobe device, and more particularly, to a strobe pop-up device of a camera that can lock a strobe assembly within a camera, or move the strobe assembly to a pop-up and/or a bounce position.
2. Description of the Related Art
A camera often includes a strobe device built in a camera body, which can be popped up by pressing a button. Such a strobe pop-up device typically includes a pressure spring biasing the strobe to a pop-up location, and a fixing lever operable by a motor. The strobe is held within the camera by the fixing lever which is subject to an elastic force of the pressure spring. When a user releases the fixing lever by pressing the button, the strobe springs up to the pop-up location by the elastic force of the pressure spring.
Such a conventional pop-up device requires a gear train having of a plurality of gears for transmitting a driving force of motor to the fixing lever in order to move the fixing lever between a fixing location and a release location using the driving force of the motor. As a result, a large space is required to accommodate the gear train, which hinders miniaturization of the camera. In addition, use of the fixing lever increases the number of components for the strobe pop-up device, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost of the camera. Furthermore, such a strobe cannot be fixed in an intermediate position (so-called a bounce position) to illuminate the flashing light toward the ceiling for obtaining indirect lighting with the strobe.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds