Patents Examined by Marly Camargo
  • Patent number: 9088709
    Abstract: At least either of a location and a size of a subject area that is detected from an image by a first detection unit is corrected based on information about an area corresponding to the subject area detected by the first detection unit, the area being included in an area that is detected from the image by a second detection unit and in which the subject area can be estimated. A particular subject area can be detected in an image with higher accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazunori Ishii, Hirofumi Honda
  • Patent number: 9082368
    Abstract: A semiconductor device may include a plurality of banks; and a control unit configured to receive a command from an external device and independently control the plurality of banks according to the received command. Each bank comprises a pixel array including a plurality of pixels; a row decoder configured to activate word lines connected to the plurality of pixels under control of the control unit; a column decoder configured to activate bit lines connected to the plurality of pixels under control of the control unit; a sense amplifier and write driver configured to control and detect respective voltages of the activated bit lines to provide respective amplified voltages; and an input/output buffer configured to output data states of the pixels based on the respective amplified voltages. Related methods of operation are also discussed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sunjung Kim, Wang Hyun Kim, Kwanghyun Lee, Seokyong Hong, Seunghoon Lee, JuHwan Jung
  • Patent number: 9081166
    Abstract: An inner focus lens system comprising lens units each composed of at least one lens element, wherein a most object side lens unit is provided and is fixed with respect to an image surface in focusing, and the conditions: BF/Y<1.7 and (L×FNo)/f<2.2 (BF: a distance from an image side surface apex of a most image side lens element to the image surface, Y=f ×tan ?, L: an overall length of lens system, FNo: a F-number of lens system,f: a focal length of lens system, ?: a half view angle of lens system) are simultaneously satisfied, or only the condition: (L×FNo)/f<2.0 (L: the overall length of lens system, FNo: the F-number of lens system,f: the focal length of lens system) is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yusuke Yonetani, Yoshio Matsumura, Satoshi Kuzuhara, Tomoko Iiyama, Masafumi Sueyoshi
  • Patent number: 9082456
    Abstract: In certain aspects, receiving at least one motivating event at least partially at a processing shared image device. At least one designated attribute is transmitted at least partially from the processing shared image device, wherein the at least one designated attribute can be effected at least partially in response to the receiving the at least one motivating event at least partially at the processing shared image device. An obtained shared image is obtained at the processing shared image device that is obtained in accordance with the at least one motivating event, and is obtained at least partially in response to the transmitting the at least one designated attribute. The obtained shared image is processed to derive an at least one processed shared image at least partially at the processing shared image device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I LLC
    Inventors: Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9077842
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus includes a lens apparatus attached to a camera apparatus detachably, and a camera apparatus separating a beam into color beams of three colors and displays an image synthesizing first, second and third image signals, wherein the lens apparatus includes a memory unit storing correcting data in an image height direction of the second and third image signals on the first image signal for correcting aberration of the image taking optical system, and a lens controlling unit extracting the correcting data of the image taking optical system state, wherein the camera apparatus includes a camera controller moving the second and third image signals in the image height direction, and displaying an image obtained by superimposing the color image signals, wherein the image pickup apparatus includes a controller, and wherein the lens controlling unit adjusts the correcting data, and the memory unit stores the adjusted correcting data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Satoshi Natsume
  • Patent number: 9077886
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus includes: an image pickup lens having an aperture stop; an image pickup device obtaining image pickup data based on light detected; one or more microlenses arranged between the image pickup lens and the image pickup device so as to correspond to a plurality of pixels in a partial region of the image pickup device; and an image processing section performing image processing based on the image pickup data obtained from the image pickup device, in which the image processing section includes: a distance measurement section measuring a distance from the image pickup lens to a measurement object based on pixel data in the partial region of the image pickup device, and an interpolation section interpolating pixel data for the partial region of the image pickup device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kengo Hayasaka, Kenji Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9071778
    Abstract: An apparatus for acquiring an i-bit digital code by a first stage AD conversion and a j-bit digital code by a second stage AD conversion includes a comparing unit which compares a reference signal and an analog signal in the first stage AD conversion; and an amplifying unit for outputting an amplified residual signal acquired by amplifying a difference between the analog signal and an analog signal corresponding to the i-bit digital code. The comparing unit compares the amplified residual signal and the reference signal in the second stage AD conversion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Daisuke Yoshida
  • Patent number: 9064317
    Abstract: A method (100) is provided for detecting an obstruction within a field of view of a camera (12) from an image (200) captured by the camera (12). The method (100) includes: analyzing the image (200) by applying edge detection (104) to the image (200), identifying (108) regions of the image (200) lacking edge content and comparing (112) a size of the identified regions to a threshold; and determining if there is an obstruction based upon a result of said comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated
    Inventors: Juan Liu, Ajay Raghavan, Robert R. Price
  • Patent number: 9066017
    Abstract: An image capture device may capture a series of images. The series of images may include a plurality of metering images interleaved with a plurality of preview images. The preview images may be captured using respective total exposure times (TETs) that are based on characteristics of at least one previously-captured metering image. A viewfinder of the image capture device may display a stream of display images. Each display image in the stream of display images may be derived from at least one of the preview images, and at least part of the capturing may occur contemporaneously with at least part of the displaying.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventor: Ryan Geiss
  • Patent number: 9060111
    Abstract: A compact electronic device may include a camera module having an image sensor. The image sensor may be controlled by storage and processing circuitry to capture image data from received light. The camera module may include a substrate having front and rear surfaces. The image sensor may be mounted to the rear surface of the substrate. The substrate may include optical focusing structures on the front surface of the substrate that focus light through an opening in the substrate to the image sensor. A flex circuit may be used to convey signals between the camera module and other electronic device components. The flex circuit may be mounted to the front surface of the camera module substrate to help reduce total height of the camera module. The flex circuit may be mounted to an extended portion of the substrate or may be mounted to surround the periphery of the image sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ashutosh Y. Shukla, Kenta K. Williams, Steven Webster
  • Patent number: 9049366
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device and method for driving an under damped voice coil motor (VCM) actuator of a camera lens. In one embodiment, the device for driving an under damped VCM actuator comprises a first generator operable to read a first manufacture data from an image signal processor (ISP) and to generate a half natural period, ½ Td, of the VCM actuator by selecting a value approximate to the first data in a first table of the device, a second generator operable to read a second manufacture data from the ISP and to generate the maximum overshoot, K, of the VCM actuator by selecting a value approximate to the second data in a second table of the device, an input shaping signal generator operable to read an input signal corresponding to a desired camera lens moving distance from the ISP and to generate a shaping signal according to the value of the half natural period and the maximum overshoot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: GIANTEC SEMICONDUCTOR LTD. INC.
    Inventors: Hong Zhang, Qing Yang, Hong Ru Xu, Cheng Zhang
  • Patent number: 9025075
    Abstract: A focus detector, which detects a defocus amount from a displacement amount between images formed by a pair of light beams split from an image pickup system so as to pass through a pair of pupil regions, includes a pair of lenses and phase difference sensors, a memory unit for storing an image displacement amount between the image signals on the phase difference sensors in an in-focus state, a waveform read out controller for setting pixels to be calculated for the phase difference sensors, respectively, based on the image displacement amount, a correlation calculator for calculating a correlation amount between the image signals from the pixels to be calculated, a waveform degree-of-conformity calculator for calculating a waveform degree-of-conformity based on the image signals obtained from the pixels to be calculated, and a defocus calculator for calculating the defocus amount based on the correlation amount and the waveform degree-of-conformity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Katsumi Karasawa
  • Patent number: 9025038
    Abstract: This invention provides an image free from camera shake by using a plurality of images captured by a camera array image capturing apparatus. A determination unit determines whether to execute a camera shake correction processing. A memory unit temporarily stores only a group of images determined by a determination unit to be camera shake corrected. A camera shake correcting unit synthesizes images to correct blurs in the images. A matching point searching unit determines matching pixels by checking pixel value similarity between images. A moving amount calculating unit, based on the result acquired by the matching point searching unit, calculates a moving amount of each pixel between images. A position correcting unit, based on the moving amount of each pixel calculated by the moving amount calculating unit, corrects the positions of the images. An image synthesizing unit synthesizes a group of images that are position-corrected by the position correcting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shohei Tsutsumi
  • Patent number: 9025080
    Abstract: A camera system includes a camera and a camera housing structured to at least partially enclose the camera. The camera comprises an internal heat sink thermally coupled to electronics of the camera and a lens ring positioned around a lens of the camera. The camera housing comprises a thermal conductor. An interior portion of the thermal conductor makes contact with the lens ring when the camera is enclosed within the housing, and an exterior portion extends outside the housing. The thermal conductor is configured to transfer heat from the interior of the housing to the exterior to dissipate heat from the camera's electronics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: GoPro, Inc.
    Inventors: Rudy Samuels, David Christophe Northway
  • Patent number: 9001225
    Abstract: An image capture apparatus comprises a first shake detection unit configured to detect a shake of the image capture apparatus, a rotational shake calculation unit configured to calculate a rotational shake amount, a second shake detection unit configured to detect the shake of the image capture apparatus, a translational shake calculation unit configured to calculate a translational shake amount, a correction amount calculation unit configured to calculate, based on the rotational shake amount and the translational shake amount, a correction amount for correcting image blurring, and a correction unit configured to correct the image blurring, wherein the rotational shake calculation unit calculates a first translational motion component and perspective component, and wherein the correction amount calculation unit calculates a second translational motion component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takeshi Watanabe, Kenichi Miyasako
  • Patent number: 8988559
    Abstract: An electronic device includes a flash unit, an image sensor and a computing unit. The image sensor captures at least one first image and a second image, and captures a third image with the flash unit. The computing unit mixes the first images and the second image to form a mixed image. Besides, the computing unit integrates the mixed image and the third image to form an integrated image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Ability Enterprise Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chun-Hsiung Chao, Chin-Nan Chen
  • Patent number: 8982270
    Abstract: A deformable focal plane array (DFPA) for imaging systems is disclosed. In one embodiment, the DFPA includes a detection circuitry on one side. For example, the thickness of the DFPA is in a range of about 5 to 40 microns. In one exemplary embodiment, the DFPA when warped to a desired shape provides a substantially wider field of view (FOV) than a flat focal plane array (FPA).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis P. Bowler, Raymond J. Silva, Gerard A. Esposito
  • Patent number: 8982234
    Abstract: An image processing method, for correcting a blur a due to an optical system of an image capturing apparatus, the image processing method including, storing a plurality of representative filters in a memory, selecting a subset of representative filters from the plurality of representative filters based on a pixel position of a pixel of interest in an image, applying each of the selected representative filter to a pixel value of the pixel of interest, and correcting the pixel value of the pixel of interest based on (a) a result of the application of filters, and (b) the pixel position of the pixel of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hisato Sekine
  • Patent number: 8970758
    Abstract: An image pickup device is provided, capable of complete correction with data of once analog-to-digital conversion, and prevention of excess use of switches and analog devices and/or erroneous correction, including: an image sensor having a plurality of analog-to-digital converters determining conversion results from a digital signal of higher order bit through separate steps of two or more times; a first correction unit which has a correction factor for correcting nonlinear errors of the plurality of analog-to-digital converters so as to adapt to the analog-to-digital converters and corrects a nonlinear error of a digital signal output from respective analog-to-digital converters based on a correction factor corresponding to respective analog-to-digital converters, characterized in that the first correction unit corrects the nonlinear errors after converting the digital signals from the plurality of analog-to-digital converters into a serial output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yuichiro Yamashita
  • Patent number: 8970757
    Abstract: A solid-state image pickup element comprises a plurality of first signal storage units connected to each vertical output line to store a signal transferred from a selected unit cell to each vertical output line, and a plurality of second signal storage units connected to each vertical output line to store the signals transferred from a first number of first signal storage units, wherein the plurality of first signal storage units and the plurality of second signal storage units are selectively driven such that in a period of time for selectively driving the first signal storage unit to store the signal transferred to the vertical output line by driving a signal read-out unit of the selected unit cell, another first signal storage unit connected to the vertical output line and the second signal storage unit to store the signal transferred from the another first signal storage unit are selectively driven.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hirokazu Kobayashi