West Electric Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Photo & Lighting Co., Ltd.

Katsunori Kawabata

Katsumi Horinishi

Mitsuo Fuke

Takashi Umehara

Hiroyuki Yoshioka

Katsuji Ishikawa

Hajime Mitsui

Hisashi Ogura

Kazuhiro Daijo

Arata Sakamoto

Hirohiko Ina

Katsushi Sumisaki

Yoshimichi Enno

Toshinori Maki

Naoyuki Furutsuka

Kazue Nakagawa

Shohei Uno

Akira Iwamoto

Koji Uenoyama

Shinji Ando

Kazuhiko Ooyama

Yoshihiro Muragaki

Tomoaki Ueda

Takao Kondo

In a light source device, an axis extends from a light-emitting face and perpendicularly to the light-emitting face. A reflective surface includes a curved surface defined by rotating a first arc which is a part of an ellipse around the axis. The ellipse has a first focal point and a second focal point which are located on the light-emitting face. The second focal point is located adjacently to the first arc with respect to a center of the ellipse. A distance from the first focal point to the axis is shorter than a distance from the second focal point to the axis.

Light source device and lighting device

An illuminating device includes: first lenses individually corresponding to LEDs; a light control member including light transmission channels individually corresponding to the first lenses and a light blocker surrounding the light transmission channels; and second lenses individually corresponding to the light transmission channels. Each first lens includes a light concentrator for producing concentrated light by concentrating light emitted from a corresponding LED, and a reflector surrounding the light concentrator to produce reflected light by reflecting light emitted from the corresponding LED in a direction across the concentrated light. Each first lens outputs illumination light including the concentrated light and the reflected light produced from the corresponding light emitting diode. Each light transmission channel transmits the illumination light output from a corresponding first lens. The light blocker prevents transmission of the illumination light emitted from each first lens. Each second lens refracts the illumination light transmitted by a corresponding light transmission channel.

Illuminating device

A flash device of the present invention includes a flash main body, a light emitting section rotatably coupled to the flash main body, and a variable mechanism that can vary the angle in the vertical direction of the light emitting section between a normal irradiation direction angle and a desired irradiation direction angle different from the normal irradiation direction angle. The flash device further includes a drive section for driving the variable mechanism, a vertical direction angle detecting section for detecting the angle in the vertical direction of the light emitting section, and a control device for changing, with the drive section, the angle in the vertical direction of the light emitting section to the desired irradiation direction angle based on a detection signal of the vertical direction angle detecting section. Thus, the angle can be instantly changed to the desired irradiation direction angle, the time taken for preparation for photographing can be reduced, and a subject can be bounce-photographed without missing the photo opportunity.

Flash device and image capture device provided with flash device

A stroboscopic device includes a light emitter disposed in a light-emitter casing, a light controller member disposed in an opening of the light-emitter casing, and a prism member disposed at a position near the light emitter where an opening of a reflector is not covered. The light emitter includes a flash discharge tube and a reflector for reflecting the light rays from the flash discharge tube in an irradiation direction. The light controller member controls the light rays from the light emitter. The prism member bends the light rays emitted from the flash discharge tube into an optical axis direction.

Stroboscopic device

The electronic flash unit disclosed comprises: a transformer () to vary voltages of a power supply; an accumulator () composed of a main capacitor () to charge an electric energy supplied from the transformer (); a lamp unit () provided with a flashlamp (), set inside of a reflector (), that flashes by discharging of energy storages in the main capacitor () upon applying a voltage on a trigger terminal (); and a trigger circuit () to generate the voltage to apply on the trigger terminal (), wherein at least the lamp unit () is coated with an insulation material.

Electronic flash unit and manufacturing method thereof

A flash apparatus capable of varying the emission angle according to the present invention is characterized in that a light controller provided in front of a reflector for diffusing or condensing supplied light is configured to comprise a diffusion controlling portion having light diffusive action only with respect to a longitudinal direction of a bar-like light source and a condensation controlling portion having condensing action to omnidirectionally condense supplied light. By this, the flash apparatus capable of varying the emission angle can control and restrict prism action at the light controller by diffusing light emitted from the bar-like light source in respect to the longitudinal direction of the bar-like light source even when the bar-like light source and the light controller are close to each other. As a result, unevenness of light distribution (rainbow-like unevenness) based on the prism action at the light controller can be prevented from occurring even in a state on the wide side when the light emitting portion is miniaturized.

Flash apparatus capable of varying emission angle

In order to vary a light emission angle, a light source is moved so that its position relative to a reflector is varied. In one mode, by compulsively moving the light source to one end of a movement range of the light source, the one end is set as an original position. In another mode, after the light source is compulsively moved to the one end, by detecting that the light source has reached a position preset in the movement range while the light source is being moved to the other end of the movement range, a distance by which the light source is moved from the one end to the preset position is detected and stored as control information. The subsequent operation to move the light source to a desired control position is controlled based on the original position which is the one end or based on the control information.

Variable emission angle strobe light and control method therefor

By more widely diffusing light from a rod light source, particularly in the direction of the length of the rod light source than conventional strobe lights and image recorders, a strobe light of the present invention and an image recorder containing the strobe light provide luminous intensity distribution characteristics including a light emitting angle large enough to cover, for example, landscape images and the angle of coverage of imaging lenses with a short focal length. This allows the light emitting angle in the direction of the length of the rod light source to increase during wide-angle imaging, with little variation in the luminous intensity distribution characteristics in the direction at right angles to the direction of the length of the rod light source, as compared with known-arrangement strobe lights.

Strobe light and image recorder containing that strobe light

An emission angle variable flash apparatus of the invention alters an angular aperture to be formed by side reflection plates disposed oppositely to both side surfaces of a reflector in linkage with a change of a distance between a Xe tube and a reflector on their optical axis, thereby enhancing the efficiency of utilization of flash from a light source and expanding a variable range of an emission angle in the horizontal direction. As a result, the emission angle variable flash apparatus of the invention is made smaller in size than in the prior art.

Emission angle variable flash apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Katsunori Kawabata