Patents Examined by Akshay Trehan
  • Patent number: 11974031
    Abstract: Various embodiments include a hybrid sensor shift platform comprising a multi-core substrate for a camera. The hybrid sensor shift platform may be coupled with an image sensor. The camera may include one or more actuators configured to move the hybrid sensor shift platform together with the image sensor. The multi-core substrate may be coupled with one or more other substrates to form the hybrid sensor shift platform. For example, the hybrid sensor shift platform may include a multi-core organic substrate and a ceramic substrate in various embodiments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Himesh Patel, Roshan Murthy
  • Patent number: 11974043
    Abstract: An image stabilization unit includes an optical element, a lens barrel configured to hold the optical element, a magnet, and a fixing member. The image stabilization unit further includes a sensor that detects a position of the lens barrel by sensing magnetism of the magnet, and a flexible substrate connected to the sensor. The flexible substrate includes a sensor mounting portion mounted to the sensor, a movable-side holding portion held by the lens barrel, and a fixed-side holding portion held by the fixing member. The movable-side holding portion and the fixed-side holding portion are located in such a manner as to overlap the sensor mounting portion in an optical-axis direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Wataru Suwa
  • Patent number: 11974044
    Abstract: In one example, a method comprises: exposing a first photodiode to incident light to generate first charge; exposing a second photodiode to the incident light to generate second charge; converting, by a first charge sensing unit, the first charge to a first voltage; converting, by a second charge sensing unit, the second charge to a second voltage; controlling an ADC to detect, based on the first voltage, that a quantity of the first charge reaches a saturation threshold, and to measure a saturation time when the quantity of the first charge reaches the saturation threshold; stopping the exposure of the first photodiode and the second photodiode to the incident light based on detecting that the quantity of the first charge reaches the saturation threshold; and controlling the ADC to measure, based on the second voltage, a quantity of the second charge generated by the second photodiode before the exposure ends.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Xinqiao Liu, Andrew Samuel Berkovich, Song Chen
  • Patent number: 11968795
    Abstract: The present document describes an electronic device with a structural midframe and associated methods. The architectural design of the electronic device (e.g., a security camera) is such that its components are assembled onto the midframe to form a subassembly and the housing is assembled after the subassembly. The midframe includes various features that enable multiple printed circuit boards, a camera subassembly, a front housing member, a heatsink, and a heat spreader to be assembled onto the midframe outside of the housing. The midframe can also include a hinge-bearing surface forming a portion of a ball joint for supporting rotational movement of the electronic device. Accordingly, the electronic device uses the midframe, rather than the housing, as a structural member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Laurie Man Sum Kwan, Cindy Ngoc-Tran Au, Timothy Michael Vanderet, Cheng-jung Lee
  • Patent number: 11960195
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an objective. A component at risk of icing up, for example an optical lens or a radiation-permeable cover, is inserted into a housing and connected to, preferably braced against, the housing, by an interconnection of a heating ring made of an electrically conductive elastomer material. An objective, and an imager module that includes an objective are also description.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventors: Guido Bernd Finnah, Joerg Engelhardt
  • Patent number: 11962913
    Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes a light source, a spatial light modulator, a Fourier transform optical system, a photodetector, and a control unit. The control unit sets a first region and a second region on a modulation plane, acquires a light intensity value by setting a light amplitude modulation pattern in the first region and setting a light amplitude modulation in the second region to a non-zero predetermined value, acquires the light intensity value by setting the light amplitude modulation pattern in the first region and setting the light amplitude modulation in the second region to zero, acquires the light intensity value by setting the light amplitude modulation in the first region to zero and setting the light amplitude modulation in the second region to the predetermined value, and acquires a complex amplitude image of a region of an object corresponding to the first region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K.
    Inventor: Katsuhiro Nakamoto
  • Patent number: 11943524
    Abstract: A camera module is provided. The camera module includes a lens module including one or more lenses; an image sensor configured to convert light passing through the lens module into an electrical signal; and a filter configured to perform a polarization function, wherein the filter is configured to be movable in a space formed between the lens module and the image sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jong Ki Kim, Won Kyu Jang, Hee Sung Jun
  • Patent number: 11938871
    Abstract: A sensor pod system includes one or more sensor pods with a plurality of sensors configured to collect data from an environment. A sensor pod may include a housing and extend from a portion of a body of a vehicle. The sensor pod housing may have energy absorbing structures configured to absorb and dissipate energy during an impact in order to protect a pedestrian.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Austin In-Jei Yi, Mark Alan Bates, Daniel Glenn Johnson
  • Patent number: 11910080
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus includes a solid-state image pickup device, a learning unit configured to generate a learned model by performing machine learning using, as supervised data, first correction information for identifying a pixel signal for which noise is to be corrected among a plurality of pixels of the solid-state image pickup device and using, as input, an image acquired from the solid-state image pickup device and that has not been corrected based on the first correction information, and an inference unit configured to infer a pixel signal on which noise is superimposed by inputting an image corrected based on the first correction information to the learned model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Makiko Saito
  • Patent number: 11895384
    Abstract: An actuator includes a seat body a stator magnet, a mover assembly and a driving chip. The stator magnet is in the seat body and is connected to the seat body; the mover assembly includes a coil circuit board, the coil circuit board includes a first electrically conductive coil, and the first electrically conductive coil, when energized, interacts with the stator magnet to drive the mover assembly and the stator magnet to move relative to each other; and the driving chip is located on the coil circuit board and is connected to the first electrically conductive coil, and is used for connecting to an external power supply circuit to supply power to the first electrically conductive coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Bin Wang, Hui Wang
  • Patent number: 11889170
    Abstract: An imaging device, electronic equipment, and an imaging method capable of controlling a temperature rise are provided. The imaging device (CIS 2) according to the present disclosure includes an imaging unit (22), an information processing unit (DNN processing unit 23), a temperature detection unit (25), and a control unit (CIS control unit 21). The imaging unit (22) captures an image and generates image data. The information processing unit (DNN processing unit 23) performs processing with respect to the image data read from the imaging unit (22). The temperature detection unit (25) detects temperature. The control unit (CIS control unit 21) changes the processing performed by the information processing unit (DNN processing unit 23) according to the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit (25).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation
    Inventor: Goshi Watanabe
  • Patent number: 11889218
    Abstract: A solid state image sensor of the present disclosure includes: a first semiconductor substrate provided with at least a pixel array unit in which pixels that perform photoelectric conversion are arranged in a matrix form; and a second semiconductor substrate provided with at least a control circuit unit that drives the pixels. The first semiconductor substrate and the second semiconductor substrate are stacked, with first surfaces on which wiring layers are formed facing each other, the pixel array unit is composed of a plurality of divided array units, the control circuit unit is provided corresponding to each of the plurality of divided array units, and electrical connection is established in each of the divided array units, through an electrode located on each of the first surfaces of the first semiconductor substrate and the second semiconductor substrate, between the pixel array unit and the control circuit unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Shunichi Sukegawa, Shunji Maeda, Junichi Ishibashi, Motoshige Okada
  • Patent number: 11876933
    Abstract: In a solid-state image sensor that detects an address event, the detection sensitivity for the address event is controlled to an appropriate value. The solid-state image sensor includes a pixel array unit and a control unit. In the solid-state image sensor, multiple pixel circuits are arranged in the pixel array unit, each detecting a change in luminance of incident light occurring outside a predetermined dead band as the address event. The control unit controls the width of the dead band according to the number of times the address event is detected in the pixel array unit within a fixed unit cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation
    Inventor: Atsumi Niwa
  • Patent number: 11870371
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and an actuator system for determining and applying a voltage to a piezoelectric actuator (PEA) to achieve a given setpoint displacement. The method involves determining a relation dcal(V) between a PEA displacement measure (d) and voltage (V) and a relation ttcal(V) between transition time (tt) and voltage and combining the determined relations to calculate a relation d(tt) between the displacement measure and transition time during an initial calibration procedure. This relation is characteristic for the PEA, and by determining a new relation ttnew(V) after repeated biasing of the PEA, a compensated relation dc(V) can be calculated by substituting ttnew(V) in the calculated d(tt). The compensated relation dc(V) compensates for piezo creep effects due to the wear and can be used to determine the voltage to be applied directly, or be used in other compensation algorithms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Polight ASA
    Inventors: Lars Henriksen, Tore Svortdal, Euan Barron, Muhammad Asif Raza Azhar, Thi Kim Trinh Tran, Nicolas Tallaron, Pierre Craen
  • Patent number: 11863858
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for automatically concatenating two or more audiovisual clips containing video input from multiple cameras, and producing a combined audiovisual file containing video that switches between the two video inputs. In some examples, two video inputs and an audio input are recorded synchronously and are synchronized. The audio input can be sampled to locate low-noise audio events. The audiovisual file contains video that switches between two or more camera angles at the low-noise audio events. In one aspect, pauses are automatically removed from the audiovisual files. In another aspect, the system detects switch-initiating events, and switches between camera angles in response to detecting a switch-initiating event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: On Time Staffing Inc.
    Inventor: Roman Olshansky
  • Patent number: 11843848
    Abstract: A control apparatus is operable to control capturing by an image capturing apparatus. The control apparatus comprises: a detection unit configured to detect a feature portion included in an image that was captured by the image capturing apparatus; and a determination unit configured to, based on a subject region that surrounds a subject including a feature portion detected by the detection unit, determine an exposure region for calculating an exposure. The determination unit determines the exposure region by extending the subject region in a first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shunsuke Chino, Toshiyuki Dobashi, Seiya Ohta
  • Patent number: 11831986
    Abstract: Various embodiments include a camera with image sensor shifting capabilities and a flexure arrangement. In various embodiments, the flexure arrangement may include an upper flexure and a lower flexure. The upper flexure may include a suspension wire that extends between two sheets. The lower flexure may include one or more flexure arms that connect a moveable platform to a stationary platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Shashank Sharma
  • Patent number: 11822211
    Abstract: A focus adjustment device obtains a correction value for correcting a result of autofocus, from aberration information regarding at least one of an astigmatism, a chromatic aberration, and a spherical aberration of an imaging optical system, and focus detection information regarding the autofocus. The focus adjustment device then controls a position of a focusing lens that the imaging optical system has, based on a result of the autofocus corrected using the correction value. By correcting the result of the autofocus while considering at least a focus condition of a photographic image, a focus detection error caused by an aberration of the optical system can be accurately corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yumi Watanabe, Hideyuki Hamano
  • Patent number: 11825240
    Abstract: A monitoring system 1 is proposed, having a camera network 3 for the video-based monitoring of a monitoring region 2, wherein the camera network 3 comprises a plurality of cameras 3a, b for recording a partial monitoring region 2a, b of the monitoring region 2 in each case, wherein the plurality of cameras 2a, b are configured to provide monitoring images 6a, b of the partial monitoring regions 2a, b, having at least one sensor device 7a, b for detecting at least one person-related object information item, having a monitoring device 5 for recognizing persons 4 in the monitoring images 6a, b, wherein the monitoring device 5 comprises a person detection module 10, the person detection module 10 being configured to detect persons 4 in the monitoring images 6a, b, wherein the monitoring device 5 comprises an assignment module 11, the assignment module 11 being configured to assign an item of person-related object information from a partial monitoring region 7a, b to a person 4 in the same partial monitoring regio
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Gregor Blott, Jan Rexilius
  • Patent number: 11823802
    Abstract: An example system for monitoring an occupant of a room includes an enclosure, a speaker plate, a speaker, an infrared illuminator, a camera, and a power-over-Ethernet (PoE) splitter. The enclosure is mountable within an interior surface of the room. The speaker plate is removably positionable within the enclosure, and includes a speaker opening and an illuminator opening. The speaker is positioned within the speaker opening and mounted to the speaker plate. The infrared illuminator is positioned within the illuminator opening and mounted to the speaker plate. The PoE splitter is configured to: receive power and data over a first Ethernet cable, provide power to the speaker, the infrared illuminator, and the camera; and output the data to the camera over a second Ethernet cable. The camera is configured to send an audio signal to the speaker over an audio cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: Laux/Arnold, Incorporated
    Inventors: Michael O. Mansfield, Christopher L. Rose