阅读说明：本技术 一种可自动调节光照强度的摄影用补光机构 (But photographic light filling mechanism of automatically regulated illumination intensity ) 是由 姜研 于 2021-07-16 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种可自动调节光照强度的摄影用补光机构,包括补光板、底板和安装箱,所述底板的顶部固定连接有支撑板,所述安装箱卡接在支撑板的外壁,所述安装箱的内部设置用于调节补光板与水平面之间的夹角的控制机构,所述支撑板靠近安装箱的外壁设置有调节补光板整体高度的升降机构,所述控制机构包括转轴,所述转轴转动连接在安装箱的前后内壁,所述转轴靠近端部的外壁均固定连接有齿轮,所述转轴的端部外壁转动连接有连接板。本发明通过上述等结构的配合,能够将补光板进行高度、角度和遮光量的调节,从而使补光板能够适应各种不同高度、角度和体积的拍摄物,能够满足使用者的需求,且本发明结构简单,易于操作。(The invention discloses a photographic light supplementing mechanism capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity, which comprises a light supplementing plate, a bottom plate and an installation box, wherein the top of the bottom plate is fixedly connected with a supporting plate, the installation box is clamped on the outer wall of the supporting plate, a control mechanism for adjusting an included angle between the light supplementing plate and a horizontal plane is arranged in the installation box, a lifting mechanism for adjusting the overall height of the light supplementing plate is arranged on the outer wall, close to the installation box, of the supporting plate, the control mechanism comprises a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is rotatably connected to the front inner wall and the rear inner wall of the installation box, gears are fixedly connected to the outer walls, close to the end parts, of the rotating shaft, and the outer wall of the end part of the rotating shaft is rotatably connected with a connecting plate. Through the matching of the structures, the height, the angle and the light shading quantity of the light supplementing plate can be adjusted, so that the light supplementing plate can adapt to various shot objects with different heights, angles and volumes, the requirements of users can be met, and the light supplementing plate is simple in structure and easy to operate.)

1. The utility model provides a but photographic light filling mechanism of automatically regulated illumination intensity, includes light filling board (7), bottom plate (1) and install bin (3), its characterized in that: the top of the bottom plate (1) is fixedly connected with a supporting plate (2), the installation box (3) is clamped on the outer wall of the supporting plate (2), a control mechanism for adjusting an included angle between the light compensation plate (7) and a horizontal plane is arranged in the installation box (3), and a lifting mechanism for adjusting the overall height of the light compensation plate (7) is arranged on the outer wall, close to the installation box (3), of the supporting plate (2);

the control mechanism comprises a rotating shaft (9), the rotating shaft (9) is rotatably connected with the front inner wall and the rear inner wall of the installation box (3), the outer wall of the rotating shaft (9) close to the end part is fixedly connected with a gear (17), the outer wall of the end part of the rotating shaft (9) is rotatably connected with a connecting plate (24) and further comprises a mounting plate (4), the outer wall of the mounting plate (4) far away from the rotating shaft (9) is used for mounting a light supplementing plate (7), the centers of the front and rear outer walls of the mounting plate (4) are fixedly connected with a pin shaft (23), one end of the connecting plate (24) far away from the rotating shaft (9) is rotationally connected with the pin shaft (23), the outer wall of the mounting plate (4) close to the rotating shaft (9) is fixedly connected with two toothed plates (11), the two toothed plates (11) are respectively meshed with two gears (17), the outer wall of the mounting box (3) is provided with a transmission mechanism for driving the rotating shaft (9) to rotate;

and a shading mechanism for adjusting the area of the receiving surface of the light supplementing plate (7) is also arranged in the mounting box (3).

2. The light supplement mechanism for photography capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity according to claim 1, wherein: elevating system includes a plurality of draw-in grooves (6) and articulated seat one, and is a plurality of draw-in groove (6) are seted up in backup pad (2) and are close to the outer wall of install bin (3), the bottom of articulated seat fixed connection in install bin (3), the inside of articulated seat one articulates there is voussoir (12), the bottom of voussoir (12) is the crane nose type, voussoir (12) are close to outer wall fixedly connected with protection piece (15) of backup pad (2), protection piece (15) are the L type, are provided with the damping design between the bottom of voussoir (12) and install bin (3).

3. The light supplement mechanism for photography capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity according to claim 2, wherein: elevating system still includes connecting rod (10), connecting rod (10) fixed connection is close to the outer wall of backup pad (2) in install bin (3), notch (13) have been seted up to the outer wall of backup pad (2), the inner wall of connecting rod (10) and the outer wall sliding connection of notch (13), tip fixedly connected with stopper (14) of notch (13) are passed in connecting rod (10).

4. The light supplement mechanism for photography capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity according to claim 1, wherein: drive mechanism includes worm (16) and turbine (22), worm (16) rotate to be connected and are close to the outer wall of backup pad (2) in install bin (3), turbine (22) fixed connection is in the outer wall of pivot (9), turbine (22) are connected with worm (16) meshing, the tip fixedly connected with knob one of install bin (3) is worn out in worm (16).

5. The light supplement mechanism for photography capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity according to claim 1, wherein: shading mechanism includes light screen (5), the outer wall sliding connection of light screen (5) is on the surface of mounting panel (4), the top of light screen (5) articulates there is hinge bar (20), the one end that light screen (5) were kept away from in hinge bar (20) articulates there is installation piece (21), spout (26) have been seted up to the outer wall of install bin (3), spacing sliding connection has thread bush (25) about the inner wall of spout (26), the inside threaded connection of thread bush (25) has screw rod (18), screw rod (18) are close to the one end of light screen (5) and are connected with the outer wall rotation of installation piece (21), the one end fixedly connected with knob two of light screen (5) is kept away from in screw rod (18).

6. The light supplement mechanism for photography capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity according to claim 2, wherein: the number of the lifting mechanisms is not less than two.

7. The light supplement mechanism for photography capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity according to claim 2, wherein: the damping design comprises a damping spring (19), and the damping spring (19) is fixedly connected between the bottom of the installation box (3) and the outer wall of the wedge block (12) far away from the supporting plate (2).

8. The light supplement mechanism for photography capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity according to claim 1, wherein: the bottom of the bottom plate (1) can be provided with universal wheels with a braking function.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of photographic light supplement, in particular to a photographic light supplement mechanism capable of automatically adjusting illumination intensity.

Background

The light supplementing plate is used for supplementing light to a shot object, for example, light intensity is enhanced, shooting environment is improved, the environment and shot objects during shooting are greatly affected, and the light supplementing plate is essential equipment for shooting.

The light supplementing plate for the existing photography is usually installed on a movable support, the distance between the light supplementing plate and a shot object can be adjusted, and the angle of the light supplementing plate is controlled by a plurality of limiting holes during angle adjustment.

Therefore, the present invention provides a light supplement mechanism for photography capable of automatically adjusting the illumination intensity, so as to improve and solve the above problems.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a photographic light supplement mechanism capable of automatically adjusting the illumination intensity, which has the advantages of stepless angle adjustment of a light supplement plate and integral lifting of the light supplement plate, and solves the problems in the background technology.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention provides the following technical scheme: the utility model provides a but photographic light filling mechanism of automatically regulated illumination intensity, includes to mend worn-out fur, bottom plate and install bin, the top fixedly connected with backup pad of bottom plate, the install bin joint is at the outer wall of backup pad, the inside of install bin sets up the control mechanism who is used for adjusting the contained angle between mended worn-out fur and the horizontal plane, the outer wall that the backup pad is close to the install bin is provided with the elevating system who adjusts to mend worn-out fur overall height.

Control mechanism includes the pivot, the pivot rotates the inner wall of connection around the install bin, the equal fixedly connected with gear of outer wall that the pivot is close to the tip, the tip outer wall of pivot rotates and is connected with the connecting plate, still includes the mounting panel, the outer wall that the pivot was kept away from to the mounting panel is used for installing the light supplementation board, the fixedly connected with round pin axle is located at the center of outer wall around the mounting panel, the one end that the pivot was kept away from to the connecting plate is rotated with round pin axle and is connected, the mounting panel is close to two pinion racks of outer wall fixed connection of pivot, two the pinion rack is connected with two gear engagement respectively, the outer wall of install bin is provided with drive pivot pivoted drive mechanism.

And a shading mechanism for adjusting the area of the receiving surface of the light supplementing plate is also arranged in the mounting box.

Preferably, elevating system includes a plurality of draw-in grooves and articulated seat one, and is a plurality of the outer wall that is close to the install bin in the backup pad is seted up to the draw-in groove, the bottom at the install bin of articulated seat fixed connection, the inside of articulated seat one articulates there is the voussoir, the bottom of voussoir is the crane nose type, the voussoir is close to the outer wall fixedly connected with protection piece of backup pad, the protection piece is the L type, is provided with the damping design between the bottom of voussoir and install bin.

Preferably, elevating system still includes the connecting rod, connecting rod fixed connection is close to the outer wall of backup pad at the install bin, the notch has been seted up to the outer wall of backup pad, the inner wall of connecting rod and the outer wall sliding connection of notch, the connecting rod passes the tip fixedly connected with stopper of notch.

Preferably, drive mechanism includes worm and turbine, the worm rotates to be connected at the installation box and is close to the outer wall of backup pad, turbine fixed connection is at the outer wall of pivot, the turbine is connected with the worm meshing, the tip fixedly connected with knob one that the installation box was worn out to the worm.

Preferably, the shading mechanism includes the light screen, the outer wall sliding connection of light screen is on the surface of mounting panel, the top of light screen articulates there is the hinge bar, the one end that the light screen was kept away from to the hinge bar articulates there is the installation piece, the spout has been seted up to the outer wall of install bin, spacing sliding connection has the thread bush about the inner wall of spout, the inside threaded connection of thread bush has the screw rod, the one end that the screw rod is close to the light screen is connected with the outer wall rotation of installation piece, the one end fixedly connected with knob two of light screen is kept away from to the screw rod.

Preferably, the number of the lifting mechanisms is not less than two.

Preferably, the damping design comprises a damping spring which is fixedly connected between the bottom of the installation box and the outer wall of the wedge block far away from the supporting plate.

Preferably, the bottom of the bottom plate can be provided with universal wheels with braking function.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects:

firstly, the angle of the light supplementing plate can be adjusted by arranging the control mechanism, so that the light supplementing plate can adapt to light sources with different angles.

The height of the whole light supplementing plate can be adjusted by arranging the lifting mechanism, so that the light supplementing plate is suitable for shooting objects with different heights, and can be matched with the control mechanism, so that the requirements of users on the light supplementing plate are met.

Thirdly, the light shading mechanism is arranged, so that the light source incident on the light shading plate can be limited, the light shading amount can be adjusted, and the local light shading requirement of the shot object can be met

And fourthly, the light shading mechanism and the height mechanism are matched, a compensation mechanism is arranged between the light shading mechanism and the height mechanism, and the light shading error generated by the height is compensated through the control of the light shading amount and the light supplementing amount, so that the light shading mechanism and the height mechanism are matched in a cooperative mode.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic three-dimensional structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of another perspective three-dimensional structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 3 according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 4 illustrating the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the structure of FIG. 7 at D according to the present invention.

In the figure: 1. a base plate; 2. a support plate; 3. installing a box; 4. mounting a plate; 5. a visor; 6. a card slot; 7. a light supplementing plate; 9. a rotating shaft; 10. a connecting rod; 11. a toothed plate; 12. a wedge block; 13. a notch; 14. a limiting block; 15. a protection block; 16. a worm; 17. a gear; 18. a screw; 19. a damping spring; 20. a hinged lever; 21. mounting blocks; 22. a turbine; 23. a pin shaft; 24. a connecting plate; 25. a threaded sleeve; 26. a chute.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1 to 9, the present invention provides a technical solution: the utility model provides a but photographic light filling mechanism of automatically regulated illumination intensity, includes to mend worn-out fur 7, bottom plate 1 and install bin 3, the top fixedly connected with backup pad 2 of bottom plate 1, and 3 joints of install bin are at the outer wall of backup pad 2, and the inside of install bin 3 sets up the control mechanism who is used for adjusting the contained angle between worn-out fur 7 and the horizontal plane, and backup pad 2 is close to the outer wall of install bin 3 and is provided with the elevating system who adjusts 7 overall heights of worn-out fur.

The light-conducting control mechanism adjusts the incident angle of the light source irradiating on the mirror surface of the light supplementing plate 7, so that the light supplementing angle of reflected light is adjusted, the whole height of the light supplementing plate 7 is adjusted to adapt to different shot objects or other landscapes, and the light supplementing plate is adapted to shooting objects at different heights.

Control mechanism includes pivot 9, pivot 9 rotates the connection and is at the front and back inner wall of install bin 3, pivot 9 is close to the equal fixedly connected with gear 17 of outer wall of tip, the tip outer wall of pivot 9 rotates and is connected with connecting plate 24, still include mounting panel 4, the outer wall that pivot 9 was kept away from to mounting panel 4 is used for installing light supplementation board 7, the central fixedly connected with round pin axle 23 of department of outer wall around the mounting panel 4, the one end that pivot 9 was kept away from to connecting plate 24 rotates with round pin axle 23 to be connected, two pinion rack 11 of outer wall fixed connection that mounting panel 4 is close to pivot 9, two pinion rack 11 are connected with two gear 17 meshing respectively, the outer wall of install bin 3 is provided with the pivoted drive mechanism of drive pivot 9.

Drive pivot 9 through slewing mechanism and rotate, thereby make gear 17 can take place to rotate, but because pinion rack 11 and gear 17's meshing relation, but can receive connecting plate 24 spacing to the removal of pinion rack 11, gear 17 rotates and can drive pinion rack 11 and take place to deflect, thereby make mounting panel 4 and light filling board 7 upwards or carry out the deflection of certain angle downwards, thereby satisfy the user to the demand of 7 angle modulation of light filling board, this method is adjusted the incident angle of adjusting the light source to 7 mirror surfaces of light filling board, because a perpendicular mirror surface all the time of normal, the incident angle equals the reflection angle, adjust the reverberation, adapt to the light source that is located different angles and height, accomplish the light filling under the different situation.

The adjusting mechanism has two sides, can finish the adjustment of the positive angle and the negative angle, belongs to stepless adjustment and has higher applicability.

The installation box 3 is also internally provided with a shading mechanism for adjusting the area of the receiving surface of the light supplementing plate 7.

Can carry out the control of shading volume to the mirror surface of light filling board 7 through light shading mechanism, can control and accept how much incident light source to come accurate control to carry out local light filling to shooing article, perhaps can carry out the light filling control to less shooting thing, prevent that the too big normal shooting of influence of light filling scope.

Further, elevating system includes a plurality of draw-in grooves 6 and articulated seat one, and a plurality of draw-in grooves 6 are seted up in backup pad 2 and are close to the outer wall of installing bin 3, and articulated seat one fixed connection has voussoir 12 in the bottom of installing bin 3, and the inside of articulated seat one articulates, and the bottom of voussoir 12 is the crane nose type, and voussoir 12 is close to the outer wall fixedly connected with protection piece 15 of backup pad 2, and protection piece 15 is the L type, is provided with the damping design between the bottom of voussoir 12 and installing bin 3.

Carry out the joint through draw-in groove 6 and voussoir 12, as shown in fig. 6, can learn to bear and the joint is spacing to install bin 3, carry out the locking of height, when 3 whole upwards lifts up of install bin, voussoir 12 can break away from spacing with the joint of draw-in groove 6, because the damping design makes voussoir 12 be in the state of laminating 2 outer walls of backup pad all the time, can not take place to rotate, in order to avoid the manual work to calibrate, when lifting to required height, it is certain downwards through making install bin 3, make voussoir 12 and highly corresponding draw-in groove 6 carry out the joint, thereby accomplish the locking of height, accomplish the regulation of the height that makes progress promptly.

Carry out the regulation of height downwards, it is spacing with the joint that voussoir 12 breaks away from draw-in groove 6 earlier equally, then with install bin 3 to keeping away from 2 directions of backup pad and remove a bit distance, when preventing the downstream, voussoir 12 can with draw-in groove 6 joint, move the back when a location that moves down, through the direction removal to being close to backup pad 2, at the joint through voussoir 12 and draw-in groove 6, accomplish the regulation of height downwards.

Further, elevating system still includes connecting rod 10, and connecting rod 10 fixed connection is close to the outer wall of backup pad 2 at install bin 3, and notch 13 has been seted up to the outer wall of backup pad 2, and the inner wall of connecting rod 10 and the outer wall sliding connection of notch 13, connecting rod 10 pass the tip fixedly connected with stopper 14 of notch 13.

Through stopper 14, notch 13 and connecting rod 10's cooperation for can carry out certain support to install bin 3, prevent that the pressure value that voussoir 12 and draw-in groove 6 bore is too big, cause the damage, simultaneously through the cooperation of connecting rod 10 and notch 13, can be through the slip of lifting connecting rod 10 at the inner wall of notch 13, light completion altitude mixture control.

Further, the transmission mechanism comprises a worm 16 and a worm wheel 22, the worm 16 is rotatably connected to the outer wall, close to the supporting plate 2, of the installation box 3, the worm wheel 22 is fixedly connected to the outer wall of the rotating shaft 9, the worm wheel 22 is in meshed connection with the worm 16, and a first knob is fixedly connected to the end, penetrating out of the installation box 3, of the worm 16.

The first knob is rotated to drive the worm 16 to rotate, and the worm 16 is meshed with the worm wheel 22, so that the worm wheel 22 and the rotating shaft 9 rotate.

And worm 16 and turbine 22's cooperation for the rotation of pivot 9 has the nature of locking certainly, just can trigger the control structure and carry out the regulation of light supplementing plate 7 angle when worm 16 rotates, makes light supplementing plate 7 can keep certain stability when daily use, in order to avoid influencing normal shooting.

Further, light-shading mechanism includes light screen 5, the outer wall sliding connection of light screen 5 is on the surface of mounting panel 4, the top of light screen 5 articulates there is hinge bar 20, hinge bar 20 keeps away from that the one end of light screen 5 articulates there is installation piece 21, spout 26 has been seted up to the outer wall of install bin 3, spacing sliding connection has thread bush 25 about the inner wall of spout 26, the inside threaded connection of thread bush 25 has screw rod 18, screw rod 18 is close to the one end of light screen 5 and is connected with the outer wall rotation of installation piece 21, screw rod 18 keeps away from the one end fixedly connected with knob two of light screen 5.

After the height adjustment is completed, the light shielding amount is adjusted, and in the process of performing the angle deflection, since the position of the light shielding plate 5 is changed, the mounting block 21 drives the threaded sleeve 25 to move downwards or upwards on the inner wall of the sliding groove 26 through the connection relationship of the hinge rod 20.

At this time, the screw 18 is driven to rotate by rotating the second knob, and due to the limitation of the chute 26 on the threaded sleeve 25, the screw 18 is in threaded connection with the threaded sleeve 25, so that the screw 18 rotates and can move back and forth in the threaded sleeve 25, the mounting block 21 is driven to move back and forth in the horizontal direction, and through the hinged relation of the hinge rod 20, the light shielding plate 5 can slide up and down on the surface of the mounting plate 4, and the adjustment of the light shielding amount is completed.

Furthermore, when the height adjustment and the angle adjustment are completed, the range of the light is not satisfactory, the deviation generated by the height adjustment can be compensated to a certain degree by adjusting the shading mechanism, and the shading quantity is adjusted to adapt to different light fluxes required by different shot objects.

The required light filling height of shooting thing has produced the deviation promptly, and the regulation of accessible shading amount also is equivalent to the scope of reverberation and adjusts to satisfy the light filling defect that leads to because of the height error, can form a compensation mechanism between height and the shading, the suitability is strong and the operation of being convenient for.

Further, two sets of are no less than to elevating system's quantity, this is in order to increase 3 altitude mixture control's of install bin fluency and high stability, and can reduce gear drive's pressure.

Further, damping design includes damping spring 19, and damping spring 19 fixed connection is kept away from between the outer wall of backup pad 2 in install bin 3 bottom and voussoir 12, and damping design makes voussoir 12 can laminate the outer wall of backup pad 2 all the time, when making upwards carry out the altitude mixture control of install bin 3, convenience that can be more.

Furthermore, universal wheels with a braking function can be mounted at the bottom of the bottom plate 1, so that the illumination intensity can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between the light supplementing plate 7 and the shot object, and the illumination intensity can be changed by changing the luminous flux irradiated on the unit surface of the shot object, so as to facilitate the operation of a user.

To reduce the weight of the installation case 3, it is possible to reduce the weight by using a high-strength plastic gear, rack, or the like.

Through the matching of the structures, the height, the angle and the light shading quantity of the light supplementing plate 7 can be adjusted, so that the light supplementing plate 7 can adapt to various shot objects with different heights, angles and volumes, the requirements of users can be met, and the light supplementing plate is simple in structure and easy to operate.

The working principle is as follows: this but during light filling mechanism for photography of automatically regulated illumination intensity used, when carrying out the angle modulation, drive worm 16 through rotating the knob and rotate, because worm 16 and turbine 22's meshing relation, worm 16 drives pivot 9 and turbine 22 rotation, thereby make and take place to rotate with the coaxial gear 17 of pivot 9, because gear 17 and pinion rack 11's meshing relation, but can receive connecting plate 24 spacing to the removal of pinion rack 11, thereby when can making gear 17 rotate, make pinion rack 11 can drive the deflection that mounting panel 4 upwards or carried out certain angle downwards, in order to satisfy the demand of user to 7 angle modulation of light filling board.

Make the reverberation can carry out the light filling to light filling department through the height-adjusting, when carrying out altitude mixture control, only need to lift connecting rod 10 upwards, the direction upwards slide along notch 13, thereby make voussoir 12 break away from draw-in groove 6 spacing, because damping spring 19 is to the damping that voussoir 12 produced, thereby make voussoir 12 laminate the outer wall of backup pad 2 always, when lifting to a take the altitude, only need make connecting rod 10 make the crane mouth part card of voussoir 12 advance corresponding draw-in groove 6 when the lapse, accomplish the joint, can accomplish the locking of height, thereby realize the regulation of the height that makes progress.

When the downward height is adjusted, the connecting rod 10 is lifted up, the locking is released firstly, the wedge block 12 is held in the direction away from the supporting plate 2 and then moves downwards, the wedge block 12 cannot be clamped in the clamping groove 6 in the process, and after the downward movement is required, the wedge block 12 is loosened to be clamped in the corresponding clamping groove 6, so that the height limitation is completed.

After the height adjustment is completed, the light shielding amount is adjusted, and in the process of performing the angle deflection, since the position of the light shielding plate 5 is changed, the mounting block 21 drives the threaded sleeve 25 to move downwards or upwards on the inner wall of the sliding groove 26 through the connection relationship of the hinge rod 20.

At this time, the screw 18 is driven to rotate by rotating the second knob, and due to the limitation of the chute 26 on the threaded sleeve 25, the screw 18 is in threaded connection with the threaded sleeve 25, so that the screw 18 rotates and can move back and forth in the threaded sleeve 25, the mounting block 21 is driven to move back and forth in the horizontal direction, and through the hinged relation of the hinge rod 20, the light shielding plate 5 can slide up and down on the surface of the mounting plate 4, and the adjustment of the light shielding amount is completed.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.