Abstract: The present invention relates to a framing system for shaping a light beam. The framing system comprises a frame support comprising a number of shutter blades surrounding said light beam and a number of actuators adapted to move said shutter blades in and out of said light beam. The shutter blades form a merged pile, where part of a first shutter blade is in placed over a part of a second shutter blade and where another part is placed below a part of a third shutter blade. A first actuator rotates at least one of said shutter blades in relation to a first rotational point and a second actuator moves the first rotational point in relation to said light beam. The present invention relates further to a method of shaping a light beam comprising the steps of rotating a shutter blade around a first rotation point using a first actuator and moving the first rotation point in relation to the light beam using a second actuator.

Abstract: A focal plane shutter includes: a board including an opening; a leading shutter and a trailing shutter opening and closing the opening; first and second biasing members respectively biasing the leading shutter and the trailing shutter to move away from the opening; a first actuator causing the leading shutter to move from a position to close the opening to a position to recede from the opening while the leading shutter is assisted by a biasing force of the first biasing member in an exposure operation; and a second actuator causing the trailing shutter to move from a position to recede from the opening to a position to close the opening against a biasing force of the second biasing member in the exposure operation, wherein drive torque of the first actuator is smaller than that of the second actuator.

Abstract: A blade room for a second blade group is formed between a shutter base plate and a middle plate and a blade room for a first blade group is formed between the middle plate and an auxiliary base plate, by separating a space between the shutter base plate and the auxiliary base plate by the middle plate. A push pin which is planted on the shutter base plate pushes a portion on the lower area of the middle plate toward the auxiliary base plate so that the middle plate bends in the shape of an arc. Also, the area of the middle plate below the exposure aperture has the narrowest width in the portion which is pushed by the push pin and the pushed portion of the middle plate has a shape by which the area of the middle plate below the exposure aperture is easy to bend.

Abstract: A shutter assembly includes a plurality of shutter blades movable between an open position and a closed position, a drive ring having first and second oppositely-facing sides, at least one of the shutter blades being movably coupled to the first side, and a first permanent magnet coupled to the second side of the drive ring. The shutter assembly also includes a first solenoid selectively energizable to alternately attract and repel the first permanent magnet along an arcuate path beneath the first solenoid, thereby transitioning the plurality of shutter blades between the open and closed positions. The shutter assembly also includes a sensor assembly configured to detect a location of the first permanent magnet along the path.

Abstract: A shutter assembly includes a drive ring having a permanent magnet disposed thereon. The shutter assembly also includes a solenoid defining a gap between first and second magnetic poles thereof, the drive ring being disposed coplanar with the solenoid and being rotatable in response to a magnetic field created between the first and second magnetic poles. The shutter assembly also includes a plurality of shutter blades configured to transition between an open position and a closed position in response to rotation of the drive ring. The shutter assembly further includes a base plate separating the plurality of shutter blades from at least one of the drive ring and the solenoid.

Abstract: A blade room for a second blade group is formed between a shutter base plate and a middle plate and a blade room for a first blade group is formed between the middle plate and an auxiliary base plate, by separating a space between the shutter base plate and the auxiliary base plate by the middle plate. A push pin which is planted on the shutter base plate pushes a portion on the lower area of the middle plate toward the auxiliary base plate so that the middle plate bends in the shape of an arc. Also, the area of the middle plate below the exposure aperture has the narrowest width in the portion which is pushed by the push pin and the pushed portion of the middle plate has a shape by which the area of the middle plate below the exposure aperture is easy to bend.

Abstract: An image pickup apparatus having removably attached thereto a lens apparatus including a blur correction unit includes a selection unit configured to select a first mode in which a mechanical shutter is used to start exposure or a second mode in which an electronic shutter is used to start exposure; and a controller configured to output information indicating the start of exposure to the lens apparatus. The controller changes the information indicating the start of exposure depending on whether the first mode or the second mode is selected to control the lens apparatus to perform different blur correction operations.

Abstract: A method for removing shutter areas in an image, in particular an x-ray image is provided. Edges are examined in a multi-resolution image pyramid and evaluated to determine potential shutter blade candidates defining the shutter areas. Heuristic rules and/or an automatic classifier such as a Neuronal Network, are applied to distinguish true shutter blades from false positives. The rule set and the classifier are based on a set of features extracted from the potential shutter blade candidates as well as predetermined knowledge of the expected placement of the shutter, human anatomy. Up to four shutter blades are expected to be detected and based on these blades, the bright areas in the image that occur due to the shutters are removed.

Abstract: A lens barrier apparatus which includes a barrier base; an interlocking ring configured to rotate with respect to the barrier base; a pair of driving vanes, each of which is configured to be rotatably mounted to the barrier base, and each of which is configured to be rotatably moved from an open position to a closed position by movement of the interlocking ring; and a pair of reacting vanes each of which is rotatably mounted to the barrier base, and each of which is configured to rotate from the closed position to the open position by movement of a respective driving vane of the pair of driving vanes.

Abstract: A shutter assembly includes a plurality of shutter blades movable between an open position and a closed position, a drive ring having first and second oppositely-facing sides, at least one of the shutter blades being movably coupled to the first side, and a first permanent magnet coupled to the second side of the drive ring. The shutter assembly also includes a first solenoid selectively energizable to alternately attract and repel the first permanent magnet along an arcuate path beneath the first solenoid, thereby transitioning the plurality of shutter blades between the open and closed positions. The shutter assembly also includes a sensor assembly configured to detect a location of the first permanent magnet along the path.

Abstract: A method for avoiding an obstacle or an image-quality-degrading optical phenomenon in an image recognition unit is provided. The method includes the steps of providing at least an optical shutter array in the image recognition unit, detecting the obstacle or the optical phenomenon, and closing the optical shutter that corresponds to the portion affected by the obstacle or the optical phenomenon. The method can be readily implemented even when the space for implementing the method is small, for example, in a small space in a camera currently in use, and driving power consumed in the method is small.

Abstract: An image sensing apparatus comprises an image sensing unit which receives an object image via a lens and accumulate the received image as an electric charge, a mechanical shutter unit which travels so as to shield an image sensing region of the image sensing unit against light, a scanning unit which performs scanning for sequentially starting the accumulation of the electric charge for each image sensing region of the image sensing unit, a control unit which controls the accumulation start scanning of the scanning unit and the travel of a shutter of the mechanical shutter unit, so as to implement a first curtain and second curtain of a shutter and a changing unit which changes a maximum shutter speed on the basis of one of a type of the lens and information on the lens.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a lensless optical device for acquiring an image. The device can include a light attenuating layer having a plurality of elements, where transmittance of each of the plurality of elements is controllable, and an image detector disposed at a distance from the light attenuating layer, the image detector configured to acquire an image with light that passes through the light attenuating layer. The device also can include a light attenuating layer controller configured to simultaneously control transmittance of each of the plurality of elements independent of each other. Methods of detecting and tracking an object in a scene are also disclosed.

Abstract: A shutter assembly has an actuator for applying a whip action on a shutter wing for blocking or exposing an aperture. The shutter wing has a first blade fixedly connected to the actuator and a second blade movably connected to the first blade. When the shutter wing is in the closed position, the blades form a folded shape with a waist section large enough to cover the entire aperture. When the shutter wing is in the open position, the blades form an extended shape having a narrower waist section. The blades can be connected to each other by a hinge or a wire. Two shutter wings located on opposite sides of the aperture can be used to create a gap therebetween to control the exposure in a camera. As the shutter wings move from one side to another, the gap acts like a moving slit across the aperture.

Abstract: An image sensing apparatus comprises an image sensing unit which receives an object image via a lens and accumulate the received image as an electric charge, a mechanical shutter unit which travels so as to shield an image sensing region of the image sensing unit against light, a scanning unit which performs scanning for sequentially starting the accumulation of the electric charge for each image sensing region of the image sensing unit, a control unit which controls the accumulation start scanning of the scanning unit and the travel of a shutter of the mechanical shutter unit, so as to implement a first curtain and second curtain of a shutter and a changing unit which changes a maximum shutter speed on the basis of one of a type of the lens and information on the lens.

Abstract: A drive motor is proposed, which serves as a drive source for a movement mechanism constituting an iris for an optical path of an imaging system. The drive motor has a shaft serving as a center of rotation, a magnet, two-pole magnetized and rotated around the shaft, a turning arm engaged with movable members and turned integrally with the magnet, for moving the movable members in a direction associated with a turning direction, a stator coil wound in a direction perpendicular to a direction of rotation of the magnet and disposed in such a way to enclose the magnet from outside, a coil bobbin on which the stator coil is wound, a stator yoke disposed outside the coil bobbin and having a cylindrical circumferential surface part penetrated in an axial direction of the shaft, and position detection means for detecting a rotational position of the magnet.

Abstract: An image capturing device includes a focusable lens apparatus, an image sensor comprising a plurality of pixel elements, and an electronically actuatable shutter device including a plurality of individually addressable and actuatable shutter elements. A shutter element substantially corresponds to one or more pixel elements. A processor controls a focus depth of the lens apparatus and selectively actuates particular shutter elements associated with each of a plurality of focus depths during image capture.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for extremely fast opening and closing of an exposure path or optical axis. Two disk-shaped shutters are coaxially rotated in opposite directions at an initial synchronous speed so as to dynamically align openings in the discs at an angular position offset from the exposure path. The angular speeds of two of the disks are selectively increased and decreased to dynamically align the openings with the exposure path. A third masking disk may be provided, which rotates coaxially with the other two at a constant angular speed less than the angular speeds of the other two disks, to permit the invention to rapidly open and close two or more separate optical paths.

Abstract: An electronic shutter for a camera includes a first driving force generating mechanism for generating driving force for moving a lens barrel in a direction of an optical axis, a lens barrel moving mechanism for moving the lens barrel by use of driving force from the first driving force generating mechanism, an adjusting mechanism for adjusting a focus adjusting to an initial position when electric power is applied or a shutter release operation is applied, a second driving force generating mechanism for generating driving force for driving three sectors, a sector opening/closing mechanism for opening and closing the sectors by use of driving force from the second driving force generating mechanism, and an exposure position detecting mechanism for detecting an exposure position by cooperating with the sector opening/closing mechanism.

Abstract: An electronic shutter apparatus and light shuttering method for a still image capturing device are provided according to the invention. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a beam splitter positioned in an incoming light beam path and splitting the incoming light beam into a first light beam and a second light beam. The apparatus further includes first and second polarizing shutters respectively positioned in paths of the first and second light beams and capable of being electrically activated to transmit light and to respectively form first and second polarized light beams. A polarization orientation of light from the second polarizing shutter is in non-alignment with a polarization orientation of light from the first polarizing shutter. The apparatus further includes a beam combiner receiving and combining the first and second polarized light beams to form a substantially non-polarized resultant light beam. The resultant light beam is focused onto an image sensor.

Abstract: An electromagnetic drive for a focal-plane shutter of a camera having two light-excluding shutter curtains, each of the two shutter curtains being having its own electric drive motor, which is a linear motor constructed from permanent magnets and electromagnetic coils. The linear motor has at least two mutually aligned permanent magnets. The opposite pole faces of the magnets have the same polarity. A soft-magnetic disk is disposed between the permanent magnets. A soft-iron casing encloses the magnets and the soft-magnetic disk with an annular gap therebetween. A coil former is displaceably mounted in the annular gap such that it can exert an operating stroke between two stops. The coil former has a drive element for transferring the axial displacement of the coil former to the assigned shutter curtain.

Abstract: A focal plane shutter blade device has a front blind, rotated by a front driving arm and a front trailing arm, that covers an aperture of a camera prior to an exposure operation. The front blind includes a front slit forming blade. The front slit forming blade forms an exposure slit during an exposure operation of the camera. The front blind also includes front covering blades that do not form an exposure slit. Front covering blades cover the aperture, while front slit forming blade does not cover the aperture, when the front blind is covering the aperture. A rear slit forming blade has a slit edge that is located between an autofocusing device and a film passage, and is positioned further in a bottom portion direction of the camera than from a top portion of the autofocusing device. A first rotation shaft functions as a center of rotation of the front driving arm and a second rotation shaft functions as a center of rotation of the front trailing arm.

Abstract: A lens-fitted film unit has a date recording module which is disposed between an exposure unit and a front cover to project a calendar date onto the front emulsion layer of a film. The front cover is formed with an elevated platform which spatially encircle at least a taking lens, a lighting window and the date recording module as viewed from the front side of the film unit. The date recording module has a module base plate, a transmission type of liquid crystal display is mounted on the module base plate so as to position behind the lighting window formed in the front cover, and a battery attached to the back of the module base plate so as to position within a shadow of the module base plate. A single shutter blade is adapted to control light passage for both image formation and data recordation. Alternatively, two shutter blades are used which interact in a controlled manner.

Abstract: A stepping motor is equipped with a rotor, a supporting member that rotatably support the rotor, and stators that have multiple stator teeth and that face each other across the diameter of the rotor, wherein said multiple stator teeth are positioned such that they are apart from each other. Using the construction described above, it is possible to make the rotor diameter smaller than the conventional model, thereby reducing the overall size of the stepping motor. Therefore, it is possible to make the outer diameter of lens barrel smaller than the conventional model without changing the lens diameter, which in turn makes the overall size of the camera more compact.

Abstract: A dual-lens camera which can be used to take single-frame images for 2D photography or dual-frame images for 3D photography. The camera has two taking lenses and two independently operable shutters. The unique feature of this dual-lens camera is that the camera comprises two shutter release buttons. On release button activates only the shutter associated with one taking lens to take a single-frame image. The other button activates both shutters to take a stereo image pair. A film advance mechanism is used to advance the film in accordance with the operating mode of the camera.