Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd.

Fuji Photo Film Company, Limited

Fujinon Corporation

Fujifilm Corporation

Other

Haruo Onozuka

Tatsuo Saito

Fumio Iwai

Takao Umetsu

Noboru Shimada

Muneyoshi Sato

Takehiko Senba

Yoshihiro Ito

Yoji Naka

Yukio Noguchi

Nobuyuki Kameyama

Mitsuo Manabe

Yasuhiko Tanaka

Michihiro Shiina

Takashi Kamoda

Junichi Iwamoto

Masaya Nozawa

Yukio Okazaki

Kunihiko Tanaka

Kiyotaka Kobayashi

Kazuhiko Onda

Minoru Ishiguro

Hiroshi Komatsuzaki

Yasuhiro Nishitani

Katsuji Ozawa

Masashi Takamura

Seiji Takada

Masayoshi Hirai

Takao Koda

Tetuo Nishizawa

Makoto Akiba

Takeshi Ichimiya

Motoyoshi Tokumiya

Tuyoshi Masaoka

Tetsuo Nishizawa

Takao Umezu

Mieko Nozawa

Muneyoshi Saitoh

Muneyoshi Satoh

A driving apparatus comprises an actuator, the actuator comprising an electromechanical conversion element and a driving shaft attached to the electromechanical conversion element, wherein the driving apparatus expands and contracts the electromechanical conversion element by applying a driving signal to the electromechanical conversion element and reciprocally moves the driving shaft in accordance with expansion and contraction movement of the electromechanical conversion element so as to move a driven member frictionally engaged with the driving shaft, and wherein the driving signal is a pulse signal, and a time period corresponding to a half wavelength of a damping vibration displacement of a lowest resonance frequency in the actuator is set as a shorter output time among a high output time period and a low output time period of the driving signal.

Driving apparatus, lens driving apparatus and image pickup apparatus

A driving apparatus comprises: an electro-mechanical conversion element; a driving member that drives backwards and forwards in a straight line in response to extension and contraction of the electro-mechanical conversion element which are brought about by a drive signal being supplied thereto; a driven member, frictionally engaged with the driving member, that moves backwards and forwards in a straight line along the driving member by driving the driving member; and a drive control unit that divides a whole traveling area of one or both of an outgoing traveling path and an incoming traveling path of the driven member into a plurality of divided areas and supplies different drive signals to the divided areas so as to implement a drive control.

Driving apparatus

A stepping motor comprises first to third coil portions and first to second rotors. The first rotor has a cylindrical shape and a circumferential surface thereof is magnetically-polarized so as to alternately arrange south poles and north poles. The first rotor is disposed inside the first and second coil portions, and is rotated by magnetic fields generated at a time when the first and second coil portions are energized. The second rotor has a disk shape and a surface thereof is magnetically polarized so as to alternately arrange south poles and north poles. The second rotor is disposed such that edge areas of both surfaces thereof are interposed between the second and third coil portions. The second rotor is rotated by magnetic fields generated at a time when the second and third coil portions are energized.

Stepping motor, lens device using the same, and imaging device using the same

A driving apparatus comprises an actuator, the actuator comprising an electromechanical conversion element and a driving shaft attached to the electromechanical conversion element, wherein the driving apparatus expands and contracts the electromechanical conversion element by applying a driving signal to the electromechanical conversion element and reciprocally moves the driving shaft in accordance with expansion and contraction movement of the electromechanical conversion element so as to move a driven member frictionally engaged with the driving shaft, and wherein the driving signal is a pulse signal, and half of a time period corresponding to a reciprocal of a lowest resonance frequency in the actuator is set as a shorter output time among a high output time period and a low output time period of the drive signal.

A piezoelectric actuator having a frame portion includes a drive shaft for frictional engagement with an engageable barrel arm of a lens unit. First and second piezoelectric elements are supported on the frame portion, and provided with first and second ends of respectively the drive shaft. A drive pulse generator supplies the piezoelectric elements with a drive signal to expand or contract the piezoelectric elements, and moves the engageable barrel arm in an axial direction by an alternately repeating sequence of shifting the drive shaft at low and high speeds in the axial direction. In the shifting at the high speed, the piezoelectric elements shift the drive shaft in a backward direction quickly, to move the drive shaft in the backward direction relative to the engageable barrel arm being stationary with inertial force.

Driving device and optical instrument

A first drive shaft is disposed with a first piezoelectric element at one end and a second piezoelectric element at the other end. A second drive shaft is disposed with the second piezoelectric element at one end and a third piezoelectric element at the other end. First and second lens holding frames are frictionally engaged with the first and second drive shafts respectively in a slidable manner. The first, second and third piezoelectric elements are expanded and contracted according to a drive signal and move the first and second lens holding frames in an axial direction respectively. When the moving velocity of the first and second lens holding frames are reduced, the phase difference between the drive signals, which are output to the respective piezoelectric elements, is adjusted so that the moving velocity becomes higher.

Driving device, image capture apparatus and mobile phone

The present invention provides a lens barrel in which all lens groups are attached to a leading cylindrical body. A movable lens group of the lens groups is moved by a driving source incorporated in the leading cylindrical body. The lens barrel is less likely to be influenced by external forces and can be made smaller. The lens barrel includes first, second, and third cylinders, and first, second, and third lens groups attached to the third cylinder, which is extended first among the first, second, and third cylinders. The first and third lens groups are fixed to the third cylinder, and the second lens group is disposed between the first and third lens groups and movable along the optical axis.

Lens barrel

Modes of a camera are classified into groups according to their type. On an LCD panel, the different groups are displayed on different rows, and modes to be selected out of each group are displayed in different columns. Group selection is accomplished by vertically manipulating a selector button, and mode selection out of each group is accomplished by laterally manipulating the selector button. This makes possible displaying of selectable modes classified by group on the LCD panel in a way perceivable at a glance. Furthermore, the choice of a group and that of a mode within each group are matched in the mode display arrangement to facilitate the operation for mode selection.

Camera having LCD panel displaying groups of camera modes

The present invention provides a lens driving apparatus which can prevent a lens barrel from increasing its size and cost while making it possible to detect the position of a movable lens group. A first lens group, a second lens group, and a third lens group are disposed along an optical axis, among which the second lens group is a movable lens group movable along the optical axis. A second lens frame holding the second lens group is formed with a detection plate having a predetermined width in the direction of optical axis. A detector detects passages of both end portions of the detection plate, whereby the position of the second lens group can be detected.

Lens driving apparatus

The present invention provides a lens barrel which can carry out barrier opening/closing operations and lens moving operations of an optical lens system by use of a single driving source, and can adjust the focus without any obstruction even in a state allowing the baffler to open/close. A state capable of transmitting a driving force to a barrier opening/closing mechanism is attained when collapsing a lens barrel to a predetermined extent or more, and a state incapable of transmitting the driving force to the barrier opening/closing mechanism is attained when the lens barrel is extended to a predetermined extent or more, whereby a single motor can carry out baffler opening/closing operations and lens moving operations of a lens is optical system.

The present invention provides a camera which can release creep of a moving member, preventing the moving member disposed within the camera from breaking due to creeping. The camera includes a barrier base rotating in response to the driving force of a motor so as to open/close a barrier upon rotation, and a stopper for restricting the moving area of the barrier base. When opening/closing the barrier, the barrier base is rotated until it abuts against the stopper, and then is rotated in reverse so as to be separated from the stopper. As a consequence, the barrier plate can be prevented from breaking upon creeping when pressed by the stopper for a long time.

Camera

The present invention provides a lens driving apparatus which can accurately detect the position of a movable lens group while preventing the apparatus from increasing in size and cost by using a simple position detecting sensor. A first lens group, a second lens group, and a third lens group are disposed along an optical axis, among which the second lens group is a movable lens group and is movable along the optical axis. The second lens group is movable at two or more different speeds. When the second lens group passes a reference position, it is moved at a speed which is not the highest of the different speeds. As a consequence, the position of the second lens group can be detected accurately.

A source voltage monitor for a photographic camera is adapted to determine, prior to release, whether the source voltage is at a level sufficiently high for effective release for exposure. The monitor uses a predetermined reference voltage for the comparison, which voltage is selected independently of the selected mode of photographing. According to the invention, the source voltage is checked prior to release with a lens barrel driving circuit and/or a shutter blade driving circuit energized, depending on the selected mode of photographing. In the preflash mode, for example, both the lens barrel driving circuit and the shutter blade driving circuit are energized during the source voltage check. In low luminance automatic strobe discharge mode, only the lens barrel driving circuit is energized during the source voltage check.

Source voltage monitor for a photographic camera

An input system for photographic cameras is provided with a plurality of input switches. The input system includes a matrix input circuit having a plurality of inputs corresponding to a plurality of outputs. A state detector scans key signals output from matrix input circuit at predetermined time intervals and detects states of respective switches provided in the camera so that the camera may operate according to these states. The time interval at which the key scan signals are output is adjustable depending on a state of a main switch. Specifically, the time interval may be relatively long when the main switch is in an OFF state and relatively short when the main switch is in an ON state. More specifically, when the main switch is in the ON state, the time interval of key scan should be adjusted relatively short so that the camera may rapidly operate in response to the states of the respective switches because the camera is ready for photographing in this state of the main switch. When the main switch is in the OFF state, on the other hand, the time interval of the key scan may be relatively long to suppress a consumption of a source battery, because the camera is not ready for photographing in this state of the main switch and it is unnecessary for the camera to operate rapidly.

Input system for photographic camera

A film transporting system for a photographic camera is adapted to advance a film roll loaded in the camera by one frame upon replacement of a source battery. A film transporter including an electric motor, or the like, is actuated to selectively perform film advance or film rewinding. A film travel detector detects that the film roll has been advanced by a predetermined amount and applies a signal to the film transporter. Operation of the film transporter is stopped by this signal. Upon replacement of the source battery, the film transporter advances the film roll by one frame, and thereupon the film transporter is stopped under control of the film travel detector. Accordingly, upon replacement of the source battery, the film roll is advanced by one frame in readiness for a next photograph.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Haruo Onozuka