Patents by Inventor Ryo Kawasaki

Ryo Kawasaki has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11310435
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus that is capable of preventing hunching certainly at low cost and of switching between the day mode and the night mode at an optimal timing. An image sensor outputs an image signal depending on an optical image formed through an image pickup optical system. A mode setting unit sets a photographing mode for photographing using the image sensor from among a day mode and a night mode in which sensitivity for a wavelength range corresponding to infrared light is higher than that in the day mode. An obtaining unit obtains ratio information about the ratios of the infrared light and visible light based on the image signal in the night mode. A condition setting unit sets a determination condition that is used for switching the photographing mode to the day mode from the night mode based on the ratio information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKIKAISHA
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 11297220
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a controlling unit configured to control tilt driving for tilting at least one of an image sensor and an imaging optical system relative to a plane orthogonal to an optical axis and focus driving for moving a focus lens in an optical axis direction, an acquiring unit configured to acquire focus levels in a first area and a second area in an image captured by an image pickup apparatus, a first determining unit configured to determine whether to perform the tilt driving or the focus driving, based on an in-focus level, and a second determining unit configured to determine a driving direction of the tilt driving or the focus driving based on the in-focus level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shunsuke Chino, Ryo Kawasaki, Natsuko Sato
  • Publication number: 20220086356
    Abstract: There is provided with an information processing apparatus. A control unit performs tilt control for tilting an image capturing element with respect to a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of an image capturing optical system about a rotation axis, and perform focus control for moving a focus lens in a direction of the optical axis. A setting unit sets a target region in a captured image obtained by an image capturing unit. A determining unit determines, based on a position corresponding to a position of the rotation axis in the image and a position of the target region in the image, a correction amount of a position of the focus lens, wherein the focus lens is moved based on the correction amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Publication date: March 17, 2022
    Inventors: Ryo Kawasaki, Natsuko Sato
  • Patent number: 11190675
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes an acquiring unit configured to acquire a contrast evaluation value for each of a plurality of areas in an image, and a controlling unit configured to detect an in-focus position of a focus lens for each of the plurality of areas based on the contrast evaluation value. The controlling unit determines whether or not the focus lens approaches the in-focus position of each of the plurality of areas based on the contrast evaluation value. The controlling unit determines a driving direction of the focus lens based on a result of a determination. When detecting the in-focus position of one area of the plurality of areas, the controlling unit determines the driving direction of the focus lens based on the contrast evaluation value of another area of the plurality of areas other than the one area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 11159711
    Abstract: An image-capturing apparatus includes a controller configured to perform tilt control in which an image sensor is tilted about a rotation axis with respect to a plane orthogonal to an optical axis of an image-capturing optical system, a focus position determiner configured to determine a position of a focus lens, a first area detector configured to detect a first area corresponding to the rotation axis in a captured image, and a second area detector configured to detect a second area which is an area to be focused by the tilt control, wherein the focus position determiner determines a third area in which the first area and the second area overlap as a focus position before the tilt control, and wherein the controller performs the tilt control after the position of the focus lens is adjusted so that the third area is in focus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20210092302
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes an acquiring unit configured to acquire a contrast evaluation value for each of a plurality of areas in an image, and a controlling unit configured to detect an in-focus position of a focus lens for each of the plurality of areas based on the contrast evaluation value. The controlling unit determines whether or not the focus lens approaches the in-focus position of each of the plurality of areas based on the contrast evaluation value. The controlling unit determines a driving direction of the focus lens based on a result of a determination. When detecting the in-focus position of one area of the plurality of areas, the controlling unit determines the driving direction of the focus lens based on the contrast evaluation value of another area of the plurality of areas other than the one area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Publication date: March 25, 2021
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20210084209
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus that is capable of preventing hunching certainly at low cost and of switching between the day mode and the night mode at an optimal timing. An image sensor outputs an image signal depending on an optical image formed through an image pickup optical system. A mode setting unit sets a photographing mode for photographing using the image sensor from among a day mode and a night mode in which sensitivity for a wavelength range corresponding to infrared light is higher than that in the day mode. An obtaining unit obtains ratio information about the ratios of the infrared light and visible light based on the image signal in the night mode. A condition setting unit sets a determination condition that is used for switching the photographing mode to the day mode from the night mode based on the ratio information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2020
    Publication date: March 18, 2021
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20210067702
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a tilt driving unit configured to tilt at least one of an image sensor and an imaging optical system relative to a plane orthogonal to an optical axis, a focus driving unit configured to perform focus driving by moving a focus lens that constitutes at least part of the imaging optical system in an optical axis direction, and a controlling unit configured to control the focus driving unit and the tilt driving unit so as to adjust a focal plane to a predetermined surface. The controlling unit moves the focal plane in a vertical direction to the focal plane while maintaining the focal plane substantially parallel to the predetermined plane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2020
    Publication date: March 4, 2021
    Inventors: Natsuko Sato, Ryo Kawasaki, Shunsuke Chino
  • Publication number: 20210067704
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a controlling unit configured to control tilt driving for tilting at least one of an image sensor and an imaging optical system relative to a plane orthogonal to an optical axis and focus driving for moving a focus lens in an optical axis direction, an acquiring unit configured to acquire focus levels in a first area and a second area in an image captured by an image pickup apparatus, a first determining unit configured to determine whether to perform the tilt driving or the focus driving, based on an in-focus level, and a second determining unit configured to determine a driving direction of the tilt driving or the focus driving based on the in-focus level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Publication date: March 4, 2021
    Inventors: Shunsuke Chino, Ryo Kawasaki, Natsuko Sato
  • Publication number: 20200296296
    Abstract: In order to provide a tilt control device capable of performing tilt control optimal at a high speed by controlling both a focus position and a tilt angle even when a scene changes such as in a case in which a subject changes, there is provided an imaging apparatus including a tilt control unit that performs tilt control by driving at least one of an imaging device and an imaging optical system, a focus lens driving unit that drives a focus lens, and a control unit that has a plurality of control modes for performing focus correction using at least one of the tilt control unit and the focus lens driving unit and selects one of the plurality of control modes in accordance with the number of subject areas displayed on an image screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Publication date: September 17, 2020
    Inventors: Shunsuke Chino, Ryo Kawasaki, Natsuko Sato, Naoki Maruyama
  • Publication number: 20200236290
    Abstract: An image-capturing apparatus includes a controller configured to perform tilt control in which an image sensor is tilted about a rotation axis with respect to a plane orthogonal to an optical axis of an image-capturing optical system, a focus position determiner configured to determine a position of a focus lens, a first area detector configured to detect a first area corresponding to the rotation axis in a captured image, and a second area detector configured to detect a second area which is an area to be focused by the tilt control, wherein the focus position determiner determines a third area in which the first area and the second area overlap as a focus position before the tilt control, and wherein the controller performs the tilt control after the position of the focus lens is adjusted so that the third area is in focus
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2020
    Publication date: July 23, 2020
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 10705312
    Abstract: A focus control apparatus includes a controller configured to provide a focus control that holds an object distance on which an image capturing optical system is focused that includes a magnification varying lens and a focus lens, and a calculator configured to calculate a defocus amount by using information on lens sensitivity that represents a relationship between a unit moving amount of the magnification varying lens and a moving amount of an image plane in the image capturing optical system, and information on error amounts of stop positions of the magnification varying lens and that of the focus lens. The controller moves the focus lens in a moving range limited based on the defocus amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaki Kamba, Ryo Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20190364187
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus that is capable of preventing hunching certainly at low cost and of switching between the day mode and the night mode at an optimal timing. An image sensor outputs an image signal depending on an optical image formed through an image pickup optical system. A mode setting unit sets a photographing mode for photographing using the image sensor from among a day mode and a night mode in which sensitivity for a wavelength range corresponding to infrared light is higher than that in the day mode. An obtaining unit obtains ratio information about the ratios of the infrared light and visible light based on the image signal in the night mode. A condition setting unit sets a determination condition that is used for switching the photographing mode to the day mode from the night mode based on the ratio information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2019
    Publication date: November 28, 2019
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 10477094
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing unit configured to capture an image focused on a light receiving surface, a gain unit configured to multiply a gain to an image signal output from the image capturing unit and be able to electronically change brightness of an image that the image signal represents, and a focus signal generating unit configured to extract a signal in a frequency band from the image signal output from the gain unit and generate a focus signal from the extracted signal. The focus signal generating unit changes the frequency band for the signal to be used in generating the focus signal in accordance with the magnitude of the gain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Naoki Maruyama, Seiya Ohta, Ryo Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 10277818
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus capable of accurately inserting/removing an infrared light reduction section. An infrared cut filter is inserted between a photographic optical system and an image pickup device to reduce infrared light contained in an optical image. If an object luminance acquired based on an optical image is lower than a first threshold, a camera control circuit calculates a second threshold for comparison with the object luminance and a third threshold value for comparison with an object luminance detected by a luminance sensor, based on the object luminances and the first threshold, and one of the second and third thresholds is made equal to or higher than the other. The infrared cut filter is selectively inserted or removed based on the object luminances, the second and third switching threshold values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20180217352
    Abstract: A focus control apparatus includes a controller configured to provide a focus control that holds an object distance on which an image capturing optical system is focused that includes a magnification varying lens and a focus lens, and a calculator configured to calculate a defocus amount by using information on lens sensitivity that represents a relationship between a unit moving amount of the magnification varying lens and a moving amount of an image plane in the image capturing optical system, and information on error amounts of stop positions of the magnification varying lens and that of the focus lens. The controller moves the focus lens in a moving range limited based on the defocus amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2018
    Publication date: August 2, 2018
    Inventors: Masaki Kamba, Ryo Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 9813624
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus capable of accurately inserting/removing an infrared light reduction section. An infrared cut filter is inserted between a photographic optical system and an image pickup device to reduce infrared light contained in an optical image. If an object luminance acquired based on an optical image is lower than a first threshold, a camera control circuit calculates a second threshold for comparison with the object luminance and a third threshold value for comparison with an object luminance detected by a luminance sensor, based on the object luminances and the first threshold, and one of the second and third thresholds is made equal to or higher than the other. The infrared cut filter is selectively inserted or removed based on the object luminances, the second and third switching threshold values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20170289438
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing unit configured to capture an image focused on a light receiving surface, a gain unit configured to multiply a gain to an image signal output from the image capturing unit and be able to electronically change brightness of an image that the image signal represents, and a focus signal generating unit configured to extract a signal in a frequency band from the image signal output from the gain unit and generate a focus signal from the extracted signal. The focus signal generating unit changes the frequency band for the signal to be used in generating the focus signal in accordance with the magnitude of the gain.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 3, 2017
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: Naoki Maruyama, Seiya Ohta, Ryo Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20170257570
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus capable of accurately inserting/removing an infrared light reduction section. An infrared cut filter is inserted between a photographic optical system and an image pickup device to reduce infrared light contained in an optical image. If an object luminance acquired based on an optical image is lower than a first threshold, a camera control circuit calculates a second threshold for comparison with the object luminance and a third threshold value for comparison with an object luminance detected by a luminance sensor, based on the object luminances and the first threshold, and one of the second and third thresholds is made equal to or higher than the other. The infrared cut filter is selectively inserted or removed based on the object luminances, the second and third switching threshold values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2017
    Publication date: September 7, 2017
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki
  • Publication number: 20160127659
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus capable of accurately inserting/removing an infrared light reduction section. An infrared cut filter is inserted between a photographic optical system and an image pickup device to reduce infrared light contained in an optical image. If an object luminance acquired based on an optical image is lower than a first threshold, a camera control circuit calculates a second threshold for comparison with the object luminance and a third threshold value for comparison with an object luminance detected by a luminance sensor, based on the object luminances and the first threshold, and one of the second and third thresholds is made equal to or higher than the other. The infrared cut filter is selectively inserted or removed based on the object luminances, the second and third switching threshold values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2015
    Publication date: May 5, 2016
    Inventor: Ryo Kawasaki