Patents by Inventor Satoshi Kimoto

Satoshi Kimoto 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: 11926156
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a thermal print head and a method of fabricating the thermal print head. The thermal print head includes a substrate made of a semiconductor material and having a main surface and a convex portion, a resistor layer including a plurality of heat generating portions on the convex portion, and a wiring layer conducted to the plurality of heat generating portions and formed to contact the resistor layer. The convex portion has a top surface, a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface. At least one of two ends of the convex portion in the main scanning direction forms a third inclined surface connected to the main surface and the first inclined surface, and a fourth inclined surface connected to the main surface and the second inclined surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Satoshi Kimoto
  • Patent number: 11729503
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes a memory device that stores a set of instructions, and at least one processor that executes the set of instructions to function as, a first detection unit configured to detect a position of a gazing point in an image based on a line-of-sight of a user, a first setting unit configured to set an object detection range based on the position of the gazing point and an image capturing condition, a second detection unit configured to detect a feature area from the image, and a second setting unit configured to set a focus detection area based on a position of the feature area included in the object detection range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Minoru Hirose, Kuniaki Sugitani, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Satoshi Kimoto, Ryotaro Takahashi, Takayuki Akaguma, Kengo Takeuchi
  • Publication number: 20230140231
    Abstract: A thermal print head includes a substrate, a resistor layer and a wiring layer. The substrate is made of a single crystal semiconductor and includes an obverse surface facing in one sense of a thickness direction. The resistive layer is supported by the substrate and includes a plurality of heat generating parts arranged side by side in a main scanning direction. The wiring layer is supported by the substrate and forms a conductive path to the plurality of heat generating parts. The wiring layer includes a conductive part and a heat generating sub-part for each of the plurality of heat generating parts, where the conductive part has a lower resistance value per unit length in a sub-scanning direction than the heat generating part, and where the heat generating sub-part has a resistance value per unit length in the sub-scanning direction that falls between the respective resistance values of the heat generating part and the conductive part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2021
    Publication date: May 4, 2023
    Inventor: Satoshi KIMOTO
  • Publication number: 20220332112
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a thermal print head and a method of fabricating the thermal print head. The thermal print head includes a substrate made of a semiconductor material and having a main surface and a convex portion, a resistor layer including a plurality of heat generating portions on the convex portion, and a wiring layer conducted to the plurality of heat generating portions and formed to contact the resistor layer. The convex portion has a top surface, a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface. At least one of two ends of the convex portion in the main scanning direction forms a third inclined surface connected to the main surface and the first inclined surface, and a fourth inclined surface connected to the main surface and the second inclined surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2022
    Publication date: October 20, 2022
    Inventor: SATOSHI KIMOTO
  • Publication number: 20210203856
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes a memory device that stores a set of instructions, and at least one processor that executes the set of instructions to function as, a first detection unit configured to detect a position of a gazing point in an image based on a line-of-sight of a user, a first setting unit configured to set an object detection range based on the position of the gazing point and an image capturing condition, a second detection unit configured to detect a feature area from the image, and a second setting unit configured to set a focus detection area based on a position of the feature area included in the object detection range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2020
    Publication date: July 1, 2021
    Inventors: Minoru Hirose, Kuniaki Sugitani, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Satoshi Kimoto, Ryotaro Takahashi, Takayuki Akaguma, Kengo Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 11012609
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus executes a focus detecting task configured to detect a defocus amount by a signal acquired from an image sensor, a predicting task configured to calculate information corresponding to a predicted image plane position by a prediction calculation using the defocus amount detected a plurality of times and position data of a focusing element and time data when the defocus amount is detected, and a controlling task configured to calculate a driving amount of the focusing element using the information corresponding to the predicted image plane position, to calculate a driving velocity for the focusing element according to the driving amount, and to provide a control such that the focusing element is driven at the driving velocity, wherein the controlling task calculates the driving velocity in order that an image plane position of the imaging optical system approaches the predicted image plane position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yusuke Shimizu, Miyako Shibutani, Takumi Takehara, Satoshi Kimoto, Tomohiro Tateishi
  • Publication number: 20200412969
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus executes a focus detecting task configured to detect a defocus amount by a signal acquired from an image sensor, a predicting task configured to calculate information corresponding to a predicted image plane position by a prediction calculation using the defocus amount detected a plurality of times and position data of a focusing element and time data when the defocus amount is detected, and a controlling task configured to calculate a driving amount of the focusing element using the information corresponding to the predicted image plane position, to calculate a driving velocity for the focusing element according to the driving amount, and to provide a control such that the focusing element is driven at the driving velocity, wherein the controlling task calculates the driving velocity in order that an image plane position of the imaging optical system approaches the predicted image plane position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2020
    Publication date: December 31, 2020
    Inventors: Yusuke Shimizu, Miyako Shibutani, Takumi Takehara, Satoshi Kimoto, Tomohiro Tateishi
  • Publication number: 20200228719
    Abstract: A focus control apparatus includes a determination unit configured to determine whether the object is a moving object, and a control unit configured to move, during a magnification variation, a focus element to a first target position when the object is not the moving object, and to a second target position when the object is the moving object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2020
    Publication date: July 16, 2020
    Inventor: Satoshi Kimoto
  • Patent number: 10632760
    Abstract: A thermal printhead includes a substrate, a resistor layer with heat generation portions supported by the substrate and aligned in a primary scanning direction, a wiring layer supported by the substrate to form a conductive path to the heat generation portions, an insulating layer interposed between the substrate and the resistor layer, and a reflection layer located opposite to the heat generation portions with respect to the insulating layer. The reflection layer overlaps with the heat generation portions as viewed in a thickness direction of the heat generation portions and has a greater heat reflectivity than the insulating layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toshihiro Kimura, Akira Fujita, Kazuya Nakakubo, Satoshi Kimoto, Yasuhiro Yoshikawa, Tadashi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 10542202
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes an acquirer (204a) which acquires a first signal and a second signal that correspond to light beams passing through different pupil regions of an image capturing optical system, a calculator (204b) which performs a plurality of filtering processes with different bands for the first signal and the second signal to calculate a plurality of defocus amounts and reliabilities based on the first signals and the second signals where the respective filtering processes have been performed, and a determiner (209) which determines a defocus amount used for focusing from among the plurality of defocus amounts based on a difference between the plurality of defocus amounts and at least one of the plurality of reliabilities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaaki Uenishi, Satoshi Kimoto
  • Patent number: 10460989
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor element, a semiconductor substrate on which the semiconductor element is mounted, a conductive layer formed on the substrate, and a sealing resin covering the semiconductor element. The substrate is formed with a recess receding from a main surface of the substrate and including a bottom surface and first and second sloped surfaces spaced apart from each other in a first direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the substrate. The conductive layer includes first conduction paths on the first sloped surface, second conduction paths on the second sloped surface and bottom conduction paths on the bottom surface. The second sloped surface includes exposed regions line-symmetrical to the first conduction paths with respect to a line perpendicular to both the thickness direction of the substrate and the first direction, and the second conduction paths are not disposed at the exposed regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Takeda, Satoshi Kimoto
  • Publication number: 20190263141
    Abstract: A thermal printhead includes a substrate, a resistor layer with heat generation portions supported by the substrate and aligned in a primary scanning direction, a wiring layer supported by the substrate to form a conductive path to the heat generation portions, an insulating layer interposed between the substrate and the resistor layer, and a reflection layer located opposite to the heat generation portions with respect to the insulating layer. The reflection layer overlaps with the heat generation portions as viewed in a thickness direction of the heat generation portions and has a greater heat reflectivity than the insulating layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2019
    Publication date: August 29, 2019
    Inventors: Toshihiro Kimura, Akira Fujita, Kazuya Nakakubo, Satoshi Kimoto, Yasuhiro Yoshikawa, Tadashi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 10200595
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus, comprises an image sensor; a focus detection unit; a continuous shooting unit; an estimation unit that estimates an in-focus position of an object based on a result of the focus detection and information relating to an accumulation timing; and a focus adjustment unit that performs focus adjustment, wherein, the image sensor performs accumulation of the focus detection signal in a time period in which a storage unit cannot store the image signal for recording, the focus detection unit performs the focus detection, and the estimation unit estimates the in-focus position at the time of acquiring the image signal that is acquired after the end of the time period, based on the focus detection result and the information relating to the accumulation timing of the focus detection signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Satoshi Kimoto
  • Patent number: 10027877
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus having a continuous shooting mode in which images are captured for recording in response to an image capture instruction, wherein respective development process for each image is performed before capturing a subsequent image for recording in the continuous shooting mode, includes a focus control unit and a control unit. The focus control unit detects a focal point of a focus lens. The control unit controls movement of the focus lens and controls the capturing of an image. After the control unit controls the movement of the focus lens using the focus control unit and captures an image for recording in the continuous shooting mode, the control unit moves the focus lens to a predetermined position and then moves the focus lens across a predetermined range from the predetermined position to perform the scanning using the focus control unit during the development process of the captured image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Satoshi Kimoto
  • Publication number: 20180063412
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes an acquirer (204a) which acquires a first signal and a second signal that correspond to light beams passing through different pupil regions of an image capturing optical system, a calculator (204b) which performs a plurality of filtering processes with different bands for the first signal and the second signal to calculate a plurality of defocus amounts and reliabilities based on the first signals and the second signals where the respective filtering processes have been performed, and a determiner (209) which determines a defocus amount used for focusing from among the plurality of defocus amounts based on a difference between the plurality of defocus amounts and at least one of the plurality of reliabilities.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2017
    Publication date: March 1, 2018
    Inventors: Masaaki Uenishi, Satoshi Kimoto
  • Publication number: 20180063416
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus, comprises an image sensor; a focus detection unit; a continuous shooting unit; an estimation unit that estimates an in-focus position of an object based on a result of the focus detection and information relating to an accumulation timing; and a focus adjustment unit that performs focus adjustment, wherein, the image sensor performs accumulation of the focus detection signal in a time period in which a storage unit cannot store the image signal for recording, the focus detection unit performs the focus detection, and the estimation unit estimates the in-focus position at the time of acquiring the image signal that is acquired after the end of the time period, based on the focus detection result and the information relating to the accumulation timing of the focus detection signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2017
    Publication date: March 1, 2018
    Inventor: Satoshi Kimoto
  • Patent number: 9654680
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus comprising: an image sensor controlled at different readout intervals in a plurality of different regions; a selection unit configured to select one of a first image signal read out from a first region and a second image signal read out from a second region that is controlled at a readout interval shorter than those of the first region; a detection unit configured to detect a focus state level based on an image signal read out from the image sensor; and a focus control unit configured to, based on the focus state level detected by the detection unit based on the image signal selected by the selection unit, control a focus lens. The first image signal is used for at least one of display in a display unit and storage in a storage medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Satoshi Kimoto
  • Publication number: 20170054071
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor element, a semiconductor substrate on which the semiconductor element is mounted, a conductive layer formed on the substrate, and a sealing resin covering the semiconductor element. The substrate is formed with a recess receding from a main surface of the substrate and including a bottom surface and first and second sloped surfaces spaced apart from each other in a first direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the substrate. The conductive layer includes first conduction paths on the first sloped surface, second conduction paths on the second sloped surface and bottom conduction paths on the bottom surface. The second sloped surface includes exposed regions line-symmetrical to the first conduction paths with respect to a line perpendicular to both the thickness direction of the substrate and the first direction, and the second conduction paths are not disposed at the exposed regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2016
    Publication date: February 23, 2017
    Inventors: Hirofumi TAKEDA, Satoshi KIMOTO
  • Patent number: 9253391
    Abstract: Provided is an image capture apparatus that can perform focus detection based on a focus evaluation value indicating contrast of a subject image included in a focus detection area using an image signal output from an image sensor. In accordance with the extent of a blur amount of the subject image, the image capture apparatus determines how to use a method for performing focus detection through a reciprocating motion of a focus lens and a method for performing focus detection by moving the focus lens in a direction toward which the focus evaluation value increases. Focus detection is performed based on the determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Satoshi Kimoto
  • Patent number: RE45900
    Abstract: In an imaging apparatus, wherein when performing auto focus control while continuously moving a focusing lens by using an image sensor that has a lag in timing of electric charge accumulation, a focusing accuracy can be improved. To this end, the imaging apparatus includes the rolling shutter function, an imaging unit configured to convert an object image into an image signal, and a setting unit. When a difference exceeds a predetermined amount in the barycentric position of the optical system between an upper line and an a lower line of the AF area due to the rolling shutter function, the setting unit imposes a limitation on the AF area to reduce the size of a desired AF area to an AF area where the difference in the barycentric position becomes a predetermined amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Satoshi Kimoto