In this patent application (Japan 2023-178037) Canon is describing a tilting EVF for a mirrorless camera. I had the EVF-DC1 for the EOS-M system and loved the tilt function of the EVF. It gave a different perspective and shooting angle and was a useful feature. This seems to be a continuation of Canon’s research into tilting EVF such as this patent here before. In the prior patent application, Canon describes the mechanical movement of the EVF to minimize the overall size of the EVF assembly while providing a tilting option.
In this patent application, Canon is describing the connection ribbon cable from the camera’s main body to the EVF. What they are trying to do is create a cable that has a very predictable movement when the EVF is in the extended and tilted positions. This is to ensure that there is no binding or excessive strain on the cable, and also no possibility of Murphy and his annoying law getting the cable pinched somewhere in the tilting mechanism. If this cable gets sheared or if the cable gets pinched and one of the conductors inside of the cable breaks, the EVF can potentially stop working altogether. How this cable is designed has a pretty large impact on the EVF assembly’s reliability.
You can see the cable in this side diagram, labeled as 117. As you can see in the diagram, that cable has to move quite a bit, and needs to follow a pretty specific path, especially for when the EVF is in its traditional position as the space left over for the cable is quite small.
Canon has described this cable, to have the following shape, so that they can accurately predict how it will flex and move inside of the EVF housing.
Having a tiltable EVF on a mirrorless camera isn’t a new thing, as Panasonic did it with the GX series a long time ago, and more recently the Fuji GFX series. The patent is quite detailed, showing a great deal of breakout mechanical diagrams on the EVF showing that Canon has progressed a fair amount into the design phase of this EVF mechanism. As with other patent applications, this is never guaranteed to be in an actual product but is a look into the research that happens at Canon.
Source: Japan Patent Application 2023-178037
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