Patents Represented by Law Firm Robin, Blecker, Daley and Driscoll
  • Patent number: 5652923
    Abstract: The present invention provides a lens driving device, such as an automatic focusing device, which is arranged to detect a difference (the amount of overrun) between a given target amount of driving of a lens and an amount in which the lens is actually driven in a lens driving cycle, correct the next target amount of driving of the lens according to data formed by the accumulation of difference information on the detected difference, and drive the lens by the target amount corrected in this manner, thereby effecting lens driving which takes the past amount of overrun into account.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 29, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akihiro Kawanami
  • Patent number: 5650819
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus having an electronic zoom and an optical zoom and in which the optical zoom is manually operable by a manual operation member. A detector detects the operation direction and amount of the operation member or the optical zoom and a controller controls the electronic zoom based on the detected operation direction and amount so that a zooming operation on the image is performed by both the optical and electronic zooms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 22, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hidekage Sato, Tadashi Okino, Takashi Watanabe
  • Patent number: 5648836
    Abstract: An optical apparatus comprising a movable optical member, a driving part for causing the optical member to move, a manual operation member capable of being operated to be moved, a first detecting part for detecting at least an operating speed of the manual operation member, a second detecting part for detecting a focal length of the optical apparatus and a control part for causing the driving part to act on the basis of an output of the first detecting part and being arranged to receive an output of the second detecting part and to vary an action of the driving part according to a change of the focal length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 15, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shigeki Sato, Masaharu Eguchi, Yoshihiko Konno
  • Patent number: 5649255
    Abstract: A surveillance camera assembly housing is releasably locked to a base for the housing. The base is installed in a ceiling or at another location remote from ground level. A removal tool provided at the end of a pole has fingers which are inserted into apertures in the assembly housing. The tool engages the assembly housing by means of the fingers, while also being operated to release a mechanism which secures the housing to the base. The housing, now secured to the tool, is removed from the base and brought to ground level. In this way, removal of the surveillance camera is accomplished without resort to ladders or scaffolding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 15, 1997
    Assignee: Sensormatic Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Steven W. Schieltz
  • Patent number: 5646769
    Abstract: A light-quantity control device includes a drive source, a light-quantity control member which is arranged to vary the amount of opening of an aperture by shifting its position, and a speed control part which is arranged to control the driving speed of the drive source in proportion to a rate of change per unit time of the area of the aperture of the light-quantity control member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 8, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Denshi Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Osamu Sato, Koichi Shimada
  • Patent number: 5645581
    Abstract: The invention concerns a vascular prosthesis for the replacement of blood vessels in the human or animal body, consisting of a section of a replacement blood vessel (3) which has been taken from a human or animal body and a fibro-elastic tube (2) which is drawn over this vascular section, whose intersecting threads (1) which form the tube wind in spiral form around the longitudinal axis of the tube, wherein the fibro-elastic tube (2) is extended pointwise in the longitudinal direction with alteration of the diameter or is compressed and thereby is caused to contact the replacement vessel evenly over its total area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 8, 1997
    Inventor: Heinz Robert Zurbrugg
  • Patent number: 5645243
    Abstract: In a clutch mechanism formed by adhering a friction member to a face of one of a pair of rotating elements with an adhesive member and arranged to bring the surface of the other of the pair of rotating elements into pressed contact with the friction member by an urging member, a recessed part is formed in the face of the one of the rotating elements to which the friction member is adhered, so as to accumulate and retain pressure sensitive adhesive seeping from the adhesive member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 8, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kiyoshi Kumagai
  • Patent number: 5646770
    Abstract: A light-quantity control device includes a drive source, a light-quantity control member which is arranged to vary the amount of opening of an aperture by shifting its position, and a speed control part which is arranged to control the driving speed of the drive source in proportion to a rate of change per unit time of the area of the aperture of the light-quantity control member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 8, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Denshi Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Osamu Sato, Koichi Shimada
  • Patent number: 5644440
    Abstract: An optical apparatus comprises a guide member, an optical member capable of moving while being guided by the guide member, a vibration member held by the optical member and having a contact portion placed in contact with the guide member, the optical member being capable of being moved by a vibration produced by the vibration member, and a spring for pressing the vibration member against the guide member, the spring being held by the optical member, wherein the optical member is pressed against the guide member by a reaction force of the spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 1, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroshi Akada
  • Patent number: 5644447
    Abstract: An information signal recording and/or reproducing apparatus is arranged to be capable of quickly and accurately discriminating between recording and unrecording of an information signal on a tape-shaped recording medium by detecting all of signals sequentially reproduced from the tape-shaped recording medium by a plurality of rotary heads which trace the tape-shaped recording medium. The real end part of any existing record can be accurately detected by transporting the tape-shaped recording medium in a direction reverse to the direction taken in recording, according to the result of the discrimination; and by initializing a counter which counts pulses generated according to the transport of the recording medium, in response to the recording of the information signal being detected in process of transporting the tape-shaped recording medium in the reverse direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 1, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobutoshi Takayama, Hiroaki Furuyama
  • Patent number: 5642240
    Abstract: An apparatus for recording video data by forming many tracks on a recording medium and/or for reproducing the video data from the tracks is provided with a memory which is arranged to have recording video data or reproduced video data supplied thereto. The apparatus detects the picture change-over portion of the video data obtained within the tracks and controls, in accordance with the detected position, an offset degree between the writing and reading addresses of the memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Motokazu Kashida, Mitsuru Owada, Masahiro Ando, Akio Fujii, Makoto Gohda
  • Patent number: 5642169
    Abstract: This invention discloses a television signal converting apparatus for converting a television signal of a certain system containing a luminance signal component and chrominance signal components into a television signal of another system likewise containing a luminance signal component and chrominance signal components, in which the first television signal is digitized in synchronization with a frequency of four times of the color sub carrier frequency of the first television signal, and then the digitized first television signal is converted into a digitized second television signal which is converted into an analog signal in synchronization with a frequency of four times of the color sub carrier frequency of the second television signal, whereby the hardware structure can be significantly simplified and the exact conversion of television signal can be realized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toshinori Yamamoto, Hisashi Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 5642458
    Abstract: An information signal processing apparatus for processing an information signal is arranged to temporarily store information data inputted thereinto and move, after a predetermined amount of information data is stored, a moving element of a recording medium into which the information data is to be recorded, so that it is possible to stably execute continuous recording of the information signal by means of a simple arrangement with a small power consumption.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuo Fukushima, Yoichi Yamagishi
  • Patent number: 5640693
    Abstract: An electronic article surveillance (EAS) system includes a pulsed EAS transmitter, a linear power amplifier having active devices for linear amplification of signals input thereto and a controller for energizing the linear power amplifier active devices correspondingly with transmitter pulsations. A transmitter for use in electronic article surveillance, comprises a transmitting antenna, a source providing a succession of mutually spaced bursts of high-frequency signals, a linear power amplifier having active devices for linear amplification of the succession of mutually spaced bursts of high-frequency signals and a controller for selectively energizing the linear power amplifier active devices. The controller maintains the linear power amplifier active devices unenergized between successive of the mutually spaced bursts of high-frequency signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 17, 1997
    Assignee: Sensormatic Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Brent Balch, Steve Embling, Dave Roberson
  • Patent number: 5637860
    Abstract: In an image stabilizing apparatus having blur detecting means for detecting the blur of the image of a camera and blur correcting means for correcting the blur of the image of the camera on the basis of the output of the blur detecting means, control is effected so that the supply of electric power to the blur detecting means may be started in response to the camera being released from a state which renders it unable to photograph, and thereafter the supply of electric power to the blur correcting means may be started in response to an operating portion for effecting the photographing by the camera being operated, whereby the wasteful supply of electric power is prevented from being effected to the blur correcting means during the initial stabilizing period required until the blur detecting means performs its proper operation after the start of the supply of electric power thereto, thereby preventing the waste of electric power and further preventing the photographer from being given a malaise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasuhiko Shiomi
  • Patent number: 5638217
    Abstract: A lens control device for an inner focus lens system has a first lens group for zooming; a second lens group for focusing; a first zooming unit for controlling the second lens group for correcting the displacement of the focal plane resulting from the movement of the first lens group; a memory for memorizing the relative position of the second lens group to the first lens group in a zooming operation by the first zooming unit; a calculation unit for calculating the moving speed of the second lens group based on the memorized data, in order to maintain the focused in the course of movement of the first lens group; and a second zooming unit for controlling the second lens group according to the result of calculation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masahide Hirasawa, Toshimichi Ouchi
  • Patent number: 5638184
    Abstract: An electronic video camera which picks up an object image and records on a recording medium an image signal corresponding to the object image picked up is arranged to record an information signal indicative of an image pickup sensitivity along with the image signal when the latter is recorded, to reproduce the image signal and the information signal recorded on the recording medium and to control the characteristic of a signal processing action on the reproduced image signal according to the reproduced information signal. The arrangement enables the electronic video camera to effectively prevents image quality deterioration, so that the image signal can be reproduced with a high image quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryo Fujimoto, Masaki Okada, Satoshi Tonosaki
  • Patent number: 5638118
    Abstract: An image sensing device comprises an image sensor for photoelectrically converting an image sensing light coming from an object into an image sensing signal and for storing signal charges and providing a readout signal. Control circuitry variably sets storage times of the image sensor and an image composer composes an image signal for one picture from a plurality of readout signals from the image sensor having different charge storage times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koji Takahashi, Teruo Hieda, Chikara Satoh, Toshiyuki Masui, Takashi Kobayashi, Katsuji Yoshimura
  • Patent number: 5636805
    Abstract: A magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus arranged to permit each of tape a plurality of types of tape cassettes having different distances between reels to be selectively mounted on the apparatus by moving reel mounts with a reel mount moving mechanism and to allow a tape pulled from the reels to travel while mechanically controlling the tension of the tape with a tape tension control mechanism in recording or reproducing information on or from the tape is provided with a change-over mechanism for changing the radius of swing of a tape tension detecting guide of the tape tension control mechanism from one radius over to another, and a moving mechanism for moving the tape tension control mechanism in such a way as to vary the radius of swing of the tape tension detecting guide according to the distance between the reels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Keiichi Fukuzawa
  • Patent number: 5636039
    Abstract: A TV conference system, which enables a conference to be conducted between remotely located points, includes a plurality of terminal equipment disposed in the remotely located points for enabling information, such as image information and sound information, to be communicated from one of the remotely located points to another in real time, a controlling circuit for enabling the terminal equipment disposed in one of the remotely located points to be controlled from another, and an operation restricting circuit for restricting execution of a predetermined operation of the terminal equipment which can be operated under remote control. Accordingly, there is provided a TV conference system including an improvement which can provide good operability to a conference participant. In addition, the operability of the system is improved to a further extent by improving an image input apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 3, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koichi Tanno, Masaharu Suzuki, Tsukasa Uehara, Hiroyuki Kawahara