| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080225139 | IMAGING DEVICE - An imaging device includes an imaging optical system including at least one movable optical element; an image sensor, an imaging surface of which lies on an image-forming plane of the imaging optical system; a circuit board on which the image sensor is mounted; and an image processing circuit for processing an image signal output from the image sensor and a drive circuit for the movable optical element, both of the image processing circuit and the drive circuit are mounted on the circuit board. The image processing circuit and the drive circuit are disposed on the circuit board in that order from a side closer to the image sensor. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080291543 | IMAGING UNIT AND MOBILE ELECTRONIC DEVICE - An imaging unit including an image sensor, an incident-side prism, an exit-side prism, and an intermediate optical system positioned therebetween, wherein light incident on the incident-side prism passes through the incident-side prism, the intermediate optical system and the exit-side prism to be incident on the image sensor, the imaging unit includes a housing supporting the incident-side prism, the exit-side prism and the intermediate optical system such that incident and exit optical axes of the incident-side prism, an optical axis of the intermediate optical system, and incident and exit optical axes of the exit-side prism all lie on a common plane; and a cover board, on which the image sensor is mounted, fixed to the housing so that the image sensor faces an exit surface of the exit-side prism, the cover board closing an opening of the housing. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20090051804 | IMAGING DEVICE - An imaging device includes a housing including a first photographing aperture and a second photographing aperture which are open toward opposite directions; at least one image pickup device and an image processing circuit for processing signals output from the image pickup device, the image pickup device and the image processing circuit being positioned within the housing and lie in a plane including the first photographing aperture; a first optical system having a bent optical path for forming an image of light incident from the first photographing aperture on an imaging surface of the image pickup device, the bent optical path being defined by a plurality of reflecting surfaces of the first optical system; and a second optical system having a linear optical path for forming an image of light incident from the second photographing aperture on the imaging surface of the image pickup device. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090120223 | GEAR SUPPORT STRUCTURE - A gear support mechanism for supporting two gears and an intermediate gear which meshes with the two gears to transfer rotation of one of the two gears to the other, includes a gear-shaft support member(s) which supports a gear shaft of the intermediate gear; and a spring member installed between the gear-shaft support member and the intermediate gear. The spring member includes a gear contacting portion which is in contact with the intermediate gear, and resilient support legs extend radially from the gear contacting portion and are in contact with the gear-shaft support member, the spring member biasing the intermediate gear in a direction of an axis of the gear shaft. Each of the two gears is positioned in an inter-leg space between adjacent resilient support legs as viewed in a direction along the axis of the gear shaft. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090122179 | IMAGING DEVICE - An imaging device includes a housing including first and second photographing apertures which are open toward opposite directions; an image pickup device provided in the housing; a main optical system forming incident light from the first photographing aperture onto an imaging surface of the image pickup device; and an insertable optical element movable between an insertion position in an optical path of a main optical system and a removed position out of the optical path of the main optical system, the insertable optical element constituting at least a part of a sub-optical system which forms incident light from the second photographing aperture onto the imaging surface when at the insertion position. When the insertable optical element is positioned in the insertion position, the sub-optical axis is offset from the main optical axis toward the removed position of the insertable optical element in the inserting/removing direction. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090122427 | SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR LIGHT QUANTITY CONTROL UNIT OF LENS BARREL - A support structure for a light quantity control unit of a lens barrel includes a holding frame which holds a light quantity control member; front and rear support members positioned in front and behind the holding frame, respectively; a front guide pin and a front pin support hole formed on one and the other of the holding frame and the front support member, the front guide pin being slidably inserted into the front pin support hole; and a rear guide pin and a rear pin support hole formed on one and the other of the holding frame and the rear support member, the rear guide pin being slidably inserted into the rear pin support hole. The holding frame is supported by the front and rear guide pins and the front and rear pin support holes to be movable between the front and rear support members. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090123145 | MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING POSITION OF OPTICAL ELEMENT - An optical element position control mechanism includes an optical element holding member which holds an optical element of a photographing system and is guided in an optical axis direction; a drive mechanism for moving the optical element holding member in the optical axis direction; and a biasing device including an arm which is swingable about a swing axis, the swing axis being substantially orthogonal to the optical axis, and the arm extending substantially orthogonal to the swing axis and having a free end portion which engages with the optical element holding member to bias the optical element holding member in the optical axis direction. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090125926 | MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING POSITION OF OPTICAL ELEMENT - An optical element position control mechanism includes an optical element holding member which holds an optical element of a photographing system; an advancing/retracting movement guide member which guides the optical element holding member in an optical axis direction of the photographing system to be movable in the optical axis direction; and a biasing device including an arm, the arm being swingable about a swing axis which is substantially orthogonal to the optical axis and being engaged with the optical element holding member. The biasing device simultaneously exerts via the arm both a biasing force in a direction of movement of the optical element holding member that is guided by the advancing/retracting movement guide member and a biasing force in a direction orthogonal to the direction of movement of the optical element holding member on the optical element holding member. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090207505 | LIGHT SHIELDLING STRUCTURE OF AN OPTICAL DEVICE - A light shielding structure of an optical device, includes a plurality of optical elements arranged at different positions in an optical axis direction. The light shielding structure includes at least one annular light shielding member positioned between two of the optical elements to shield harmful light, and a plurality of springs held between the two optical elements to be resiliently deformable in the optical axis direction. The springs include at least two springs, one of which is held between one of the two optical elements and the annular light shielding member while the other of the two springs is held between the other of the two optical elements and the annular light shielding member. The annular light shielding member is supported between the two optical elements in a balanced state between the spring forces of the plurality of springs. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090207509 | IMAGING DEVICE - An imaging device includes a rectangular image sensor, and an imaging optical system which includes an on-axis lens element and a radially-retractable lens element. The radially-retractable lens element is supported by a free end of a swingable arm pivoted about an axis eccentric from the imaging optical axis. The on-axis lens element is non-circular, defined by a removed portion from a reference circle thereof along a long side of the image sensor. When in the off-axis displaced position, the radially-retractable lens element utilizes the removed portion of the on-axis lens element and the radially-retractable lens element is offset from a plane through the imaging optical axis and parallel to the short sides of the rectangular imaging surface. The swing axis is on the on-axis lens element side, in the long side direction, closer to the optical axis of the radially-retractable lens element in the off-axis displaced position. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208197 | RETRACTING MECHANISM OF A LENS BARREL - A lens barrel includes a linear guide member, a linearly advancing/retracting member guided by the linear guide member along an optical axis of an imaging optical system to be movable between operating and retracted positions, and a displaceable element supported by the linearly advancing/retracting member to be movable between an on-axis position in which the displaceable element is positioned on the optical axis and an off-axis displaced position in which the displaceable element is displaced from the optical axis. The linear guide member includes a linear guide projection which extends in a direction parallel to the optical axis to be engaged with the linearly advancing/retracting member. The linear guide projection includes an accommodation through-cutout formed through the linear guide projection in a radial direction, at least part of the displaceable element entering the accommodation through-cutout when the linearly advancing/retracting member is in the retracted position. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090231709 | IMAGING DEVICE - An imaging device includes an axial-direction moving member which moves between an operating position and a retracted position in an optical axis direction, an in-plane moving optical element movable in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis, a controller which moves the in-plane moving optical element in the orthogonal plane to a reference position when the image device changes from the operating state to the retracted state, and a mechanical guide device, provided between the axial-direction moving member and the in-plane moving optical element. In a state where the in-plane moving optical element is deviated from the reference position, the mechanical guide device guides the in-plane moving optical element to the reference position by using a moving force of the axial-direction moving member when the axial-direction moving member moves from the operating position to the retracted position. | 09-17-2009 |
| 20090231728 | MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING POSITION OF OPTICAL ELEMENT - An optical element position control mechanism includes an optical element holding member, a lead screw rotatable on a rotational axis parallel to movement direction of the optical element holding member, a linearly moving nut screw-engaged with the lead screw and engaged with the optical element holding member, and a rotation prevention device preventing the linearly moving nut from rotating about the lead screw. Rotations of the lead screw cause the linearly moving nut to move along the lead screw, a position of the optical element holding member being determined by the linearly moving nut. A biasing device is positioned between the linearly moving nut and the optical element holding member and is resiliently deformable in a plane substantially parallel to a plane which includes the rotational axis of the lead screw, and applies a biasing force against the linearly moving nut so as to be prevented from rotating. | 09-17-2009 |
| 20090323188 | LENS BARRIER MECHANISM OF A LENS BARREL - A lens barrier mechanism of a lens barrel includes a cam ring including a forward-projecting portion; a linearly movable barrel provided outside the cam ring and moves linearly by rotating the cam ring; a barrier blade provided in the linearly movable barrel and movable in an operating plane orthogonal to the optical axis to open and close an opening at the front of the linearly movable barrel; and a barrier drive mechanism which opens and shuts the barrier blade when the lens barrel moves from/to the accommodated state to/from the ready-to-photograph state, respectively. A range of opening/shutting operation of the barrier blade extends radially outside an inner periphery of the forward-projecting portion. In the accommodated state, the forward-projecting portion intersects the operating plane of the barrier blade but is positioned outside the range of opening/shutting operation of the barrier blade. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100002316 | LENS BARREL - A lens barrel includes front and rear holding members holding front and rear optical elements; an advancing/retracting member; a first guide portion guiding the front holding member relative to the advancing/retracting member; a first biasing member biasing the front holding member rearwards; a second guide portion guiding the rear holding member independently of the advancing/retracting member; a second biasing member biasing the rear holding member forwards; and first contact portions provided between the front and rear holding members, a rearward movement of the front holding member causing the first contact portions to contact and transmit a rearward moving force to the rear holding member when the lens barrel moves to the lens barrel accommodated state. The first and second guide portions, force-applied portions provided between the first/second biasing members and the front/rear holding members, and the first contact portions being all positioned within one of four equiangular ranges. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100310243 | RETRACTABLE ZOOM LENS - A zoom lens includes a zoom optical system including movable lens groups for zooming which are moved between a ready-to-photograph position and an accommodated position, a diaphragm mechanism, and a lens shutter. One of the movable lens groups serves as an aperture-control lens group. The diaphragm mechanism and the lens shutter are positioned in front of and behind the aperture-control lens group and are movable relative to the aperture-control lens group in the optical axis direction. The diaphragm and the lens shutter are moved to close positions to the aperture-control lens group when the movable lens groups are moved to the accommodated position. Both apertures of the diaphragm mechanism and of the lens shutter are widely opened to allow the aperture-control lens group to partly enter the apertures when the diaphragm mechanism and the lens shutter are moved to the close positions. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100322608 | RETRACTABLE ZOOM LENS HAVING VARIABLE APERTURE-STOP MECHANISM - A zoom lens includes a movable aperture-control lens group, and a variable aperture-stop mechanism provided in front or behind the aperture-control lens group. The variable aperture-stop mechanism includes an aperture blade opening/closing mechanism including at least one movable aperture blade and varies the size of an adjustable aperture. The variable aperture-stop mechanism includes a fixed circular aperture which is smaller than a large-sized adjustable aperture and greater than a small-sized adjustable aperture. The movable aperture blade and the fixed circular aperture are positioned in that order from the aperture-control lens group side. When the zoom lens retracts to the accommodated position thereof, the adjustable aperture enlarges in size while the variable aperture-stop mechanism moves to a close position to the aperture-control lens group, so that at least part of the aperture-control lens group enters the large-size adjustable aperture. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100328785 | LINEAR GUIDE MECHANISM OF LENS BARREL - A linear guide mechanism of a lens barrel, the lens barrel including a rotatable ring, and a linearly movable member which holds an optical element and moves linearly in an optical axis direction by rotation of the rotatable ring, the linear guide mechanism includes a plurality of partial linear guide members which linearly guide the linearly movable member in the optical axis direction. A movement range of the linearly movable member in the optical axis direction is shared by a plurality of different movement ranges, via which the linearly movable member is linearly guided in the optical axis direction by the plurality of partial linear guide members, respectively. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100328786 | RETRACTABLE ZOOM LENS HAVING A VARIABLE APERTURE-STOP MECHANISM - A zoom lens includes a variable aperture-stop mechanism positioned in front or behind an aperture-control lens group; a first rotation imparting member, which rotates an opening/closing ring of the variable aperture-stop mechanism by a relative movement between the variable aperture-stop mechanism and the first rotation imparting member in the optical axis direction so as to hold an adjustable aperture of the variable aperture-stop mechanism at a small aperture size when the aperture-control lens group moves within in the zooming range; and a second rotation imparting member, which rotates the opening/closing ring by a relative movement between the variable aperture-stop mechanism and the second rotation imparting member to open and hold the adjustable aperture at a large aperture size when the aperture-control lens group moves to the accommodated position, at which the aperture-control lens group is partly positioned in the adjustable aperture held at the large aperture size. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110002050 | ROTATIONALLY EXTENDABLE STRUCTURE OF LENS BARREL - A rotationally extendable structure of a lens barrel includes a stationary ring; a rotational ring, supported by the stationary ring to move in an optical axis direction while rotating and includes a peripheral gear at the rear end thereof; and a rotational-ring drive gear. The rotational-ring drive gear includes a long gear portion, formed long enough to mesh with the peripheral gear over an entire moving range of the rotational ring, and a large-diameter gear portion at the rear end of the long gear portion. The rotational ring is provided in a rear end thereof with a large-diameter-gear accommodating recess. When the rotational ring is moved to a rearward movement extremity in the optical axis direction, the large-diameter gear portion enters into the large-diameter-gear accommodating recess so that the large-diameter gear portion coincides with the peripheral gear with respect to the optical axis direction. | 01-06-2011 |
