Patents Examined by Gevell Selby
  • Patent number: 9641744
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus controls in such a manner that if a touch applied to a touch operation member is detected by a detection unit arranged to detect a touch operation applied to the touch operation member, a photographic preparation unit makes an adjustment of a photographic setting, and after the touch, if the detection unit detects a predetermined touch operation and thereafter detects that the touch operation member loses the touch applied thereto, a photographic processing unit does not execute a photographic processing, while after the touch, if the detection unit detects that the touch operation member loses the touch applied thereto without detecting the predetermined touch operation, the photographic processing unit executes the photographic processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kyota Saito
  • Patent number: 9638791
    Abstract: This application relates to capturing an image of a target object using information from a time-of-flight sensor. In one aspect, a method may include a time-of-flight (TOF) system configured to emit light and sense a reflection of the emitted light and may determine a return energy based on the reflection of the emitted light. The method may measure a time between when the light is emitted and when the reflection is sensed and may determine a distance between the target object and the TOF system based on that time. The method may also identify a reflectance of the target object based on the return energy and may determine an exposure level based on a distance between the target object and a reflectance of the target object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Ying Chen Lou, Hengzhou Ding, Ruben Manuel Velarde
  • Patent number: 9633434
    Abstract: A computer implemented method, computer program product, and computer system for determining camera calibration data. The computer system receives geo-positional data of a moving object, wherein the geo-positional data is associated with an indicator (112). The computer system receives further a sequence of frames (140) from the at least one camera (150), wherein at least one frame has a picture of the moving object (118) with a structure and with an encoded version of the indicator which are optically recognizable. The indicator associated with the at least one frame is extracted by decoding (170) the optically encoded version of the indicator of the at least one frame. The geo-positional data of the moving object which is in the picture of the at least one frame is obtained by matching (172) the indicator associated with the geo-positional data of the moving object and the decoded indicator associated with the at least one frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: AGT INTERNATIONAL GMBH
    Inventors: Markus Schlattmann, Ulf Blanke
  • Patent number: 9625618
    Abstract: An optical member set which has a first optical member formed by curing a composition of curable resins, and a second optical member which is covered by the first optical member, in which the contact angle with water on a surface, which comes into contact with a first optical member, of the second optical member is 70 to 97° and the contact angle with the water on a surface of the opposite side to the side, which comes into contact with the second optical member, of the first optical member is 80 to 115°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventors: Keiji Yamamoto, Kazuto Shimada, Hideki Takakuwa, Makoto Kubota
  • Patent number: 9628731
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is an image capture apparatus. The image capture apparatus includes an image sensor, a cooler placed at one side of the image sensor and cooling the image sensor, and a moving device placed at one side of the cooler and moving the image sensor and the cooler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: VIEWORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chang Woo Kang, Gwan Su Lee
  • Patent number: 9621794
    Abstract: A storage portion stores (220) an image data and a distance data including a respective subject and a lens focus. A display (180) displays a display image based on the image data, and an operation regarding a depth of field and a focus position being performed. An image adjusting portion (320) detects a first operation and a second operation performed referring to the display (180), and adjusts a focus distance according to the first operation and the distance data as well as adjusts a depth of field according to the second operation and the distance data for the image data to generate the display image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hirotsugu Shirakawa
  • Patent number: 9621096
    Abstract: A method for driving first and second voice coil motors (VCMs) by generating a first coil current through the first VCM and routing a portion (not all) of the first coil current through the second VCM when a first VCM movement command is commanding greater movement than a second VCM movement command. A second coil current is generated through the second VCM and a portion (not all) of the second coil current is routed through the first VCM, when the first VCM movement command is commanding smaller movement than the second VCM movement command. This may reduce power consumption. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Lucas J. Koerner
  • Patent number: 9615023
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a front-end event detector for detecting the occurrence of an event before a signal process is generated, and a low power camera system maintaining the low-power mode when idle but activated in normal mode only when the occurrence of an event is detected in the front-end event detector. The front-end event detector according to the present invention comprises: an image sensor for obtaining analog image data and converting them into digital image data; a first buffer memory for storing the digital image data; a first comparator, wherein the next digital image data delivered from the image sensor is compared to the digital image data stored in the first buffer memory for generating activation signals when the occurrence of an event is detected and transmitting them to an external device; an image signal processor for image data processing the digital image delivered from the first comparator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: CENTER FOR INTEGRATED SMART SENSORS FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Hyun Tae Cho, Chong Min Kyung
  • Patent number: 9615033
    Abstract: There is provided an image sensor including at least three pixel transfer control signal lines, on a per line basis, configured to control exposure start and end timings of a pixel in order for exposure timings of a plurality of the pixels constituting one line in a specific direction to have at least three patterns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Yasutaka Kimura
  • Patent number: 9609193
    Abstract: A camera body includes a body mount to which an interchangeable lens is attachable; a CMOS image sensor; a main circuit board; and a mechanical shutter provided with an aperture. The main circuit board is disposed between the body mount and the CMOS image sensor, and an opening through which light from the interchangeable lens toward the CMOS image sensor passes is formed in the main circuit board. The mechanical shutter is disposed between the body mount and the CMOS image sensor, and is attached to the main circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Dai Shintani
  • Patent number: 9609245
    Abstract: A semiconductor apparatus, comprising a decoder arranged in a path between a first power supply line and a second power supply line and configured to receive a signal and decode the signal, a switch portion arranged, in series with the decoder, in the path between the first power supply line and the second power supply line, and a control unit configured to set the switch portion in a conductive state so as to cause the decoder to decode the signal after the signal has changed from one of high level and low level to the other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Koichiro Iwata, Kazuki Ohshitanai, Hiroo Akabori, Takeshi Akiyama, Hiroyuki Morita
  • Patent number: 9609256
    Abstract: A solid-state image sensor comprises unit pixels, each unit pixel including photodiodes, transfer switches, a floating diffusion portion, and reset means, and an AD converter, wherein the AD converter includes a reference signal generator and a comparator that compares the reference signal and analog signal and vary an output depending on a magnitude relationship, the floating diffusion portion accumulates a first signal obtained by transferring a signal of at least one of the photodiodes, and adds, to the first signal, a second signal obtained by transferring a signal of at least one of the photodiodes, and the AD converter operates in a first AD conversion mode when AD-converting the first signal, and operates in a second AD conversion mode when AD-converting the second signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazuki Haraguchi
  • Patent number: 9606424
    Abstract: A holding assembly for a camera, such as a smartphone, which may be hung from a wide variety of surfaces to position the camera for taking pictures that include the camera's user. The length of a rod at which the end of the camera may be attached is adjustable to set the camera at the appropriate height. The adjustable rod has a handle at one end and may have a C-shaped hook adjacent to the handle. At the other end of the assembly is a mount for the camera. Alternatively, the holding assembly may fold open to attach the camera to one section and the support surface to another section. The holding assembly may be attached to the support surface on an upper section by a sticky gel that doesn't damage a surface and the camera may be attached to the lower section with magnets or gel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Inventor: Wayne Fromm
  • Patent number: 9596423
    Abstract: An image sensor includes a pixel array having a plurality of pixels. Pixels can be summed or binned diagonally in the pixel array in a first diagonal direction and in a different second diagonal direction. The locations of the first and second diagonal summed pairs can be distributed across the pixel array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Claus Molgaard
  • Patent number: 9596407
    Abstract: An imaging device includes an imaging section, an image segmenting section, and a blur enhancement section. The imaging section images a field to generate photographic image data. The image segmenting section partitions an image of the photographic image data into a first region that is a main subject region and a second region where the main subject is not included. The blur detecting section detects degree of blur of an image of the second region of the image of the photographic image data. The blur enhancement section performs blur enhancement processing on the image of the second region to enlarge the degree of blur of the image after image processing in proportion to the magnitude of the detected degree of blur of the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Ikuya Saito
  • Patent number: 9591191
    Abstract: A camera module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is proposed, the camera module including a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) mounted with an image sensor, a housing member arranged at an upper surface of the PCB, a bobbin movably positioned at an inner side of the housing member, an upper elastic member connected to an upper surface of the housing member and to an upper surface of the bobbin, and a space forming part formed at one side of the housing member to provide a moving space to the upper elastic member when the bobbin makes a relatively vertical movement to the housing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: LG Innotek Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sang Ok Park, Seong Min Lee, Jun Taek Lee
  • Patent number: 9591213
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an electronic device includes circuitry configured to automatically execute exposures at a photographing range including at least a first region and a second region, with different focuses by a camera, and acquire first images generated by the exposures, and display a second image on a display based on the first images. A number of exposures at the photographing range of a first photographing and a second photographing are different. The first photographing is a case when a difference between a distance from the camera to the first subject and a distance from the camera to the second subject is greater than or equal to a first value. The second photographing is a case when the difference is smaller than the first value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kimura, Kaoru Matsuoka, Kosuke Haruki
  • Patent number: 9584709
    Abstract: Examples of the disclosure provide a camera module configured to shield an image sensor from an electromagnetic field. In some examples, the camera module includes a circuit board, an image sensor coupled to the circuit board, a housing coupled to the circuit board such that the housing shields the image sensor from an electromagnetic field, and a lens barrel coupled to the housing such that the lens barrel is moveable within a cavity defined by the housing. Examples of the disclosure enable an electromagnetic field to be blocked in a cost-effective and component-efficient manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Benjamin Douglas Garcia, Daniel Joseph Turowski
  • Patent number: 9584740
    Abstract: There is used an XY address type solid-state image pickup element (for example, a MOS type image sensor) in which two rows and two columns are made a unit, and color filters having a color coding of repetition of the unit (repetition of two verticals (two horizontals) are arranged, and when a thinning-out read mode is specified, a clock frequency of a system is changed to 1/9, and on the basis of the changed clock frequency, a pixel is selected every three pixels in both a row direction and a column direction to successively read out a pixel signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation
    Inventors: Keiji Mabuchi, Koichi Shiono
  • Patent number: 9578235
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus detects a focus state of obtained LF data, and changes methods for recording the LF data, depending on the focus state. At this time, the image processing apparatus records a reconstructed image generated from the LF data without recording the LF data when the focus state of the LF data is an in-focus state, and records the LF data when the focus state of the LF data is in an out-of-focus state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Namiki