Minolta Company, Ltd.

Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Minolta C., Ltd.

Minoru Kuwana

Masayuki Ueyama

Hiroshi Ootsuka

Yasuaki Serita

Kenji Ishibashi

Junichi Tanii

Hisashi Tokumaru

Hitoshi Hagimori

Masayuki Miyazawa

Tetsuya Arimoto

Masaaki Miyano

Hideki Nagata

Akira Kosaka

Junji Hashimura

Ryuichi Yoshida

Kenji Mizumoto

Tetsuro Kanbara

Toyotoshi Kawasaki

Shinichi Suzuki

Yoshihiro Tasaka

Hiroshi Ueda

Yoshihiro Hara

Kazuhiko Ishimaru

Hiromu Mukai

Hiroyuki Okada

Shinya Matsuda

Takashi Kondo

Takashi Matsuo

Yoshiharu Tanaka

Tsutomu Honda

Yukio Maekawa

Yasuo Nishihara

Mototaka Chikami

An ultrasonic drive apparatus for preventing a slip between an object to be driven and a driving part of the apparatus to drive the object. The driving part includes an elastic member through which vibrations from electrical-mechanical converters are transmitted to the object. The elastic member can deform in a direction in which the object is driven. The driving part makes a predetermined locus to drive the object while the elastic member deforms in the direction so as to absorb the slip between the object and the driving part. The elastic member and the converters are mounted symmetrically relative to an axis which is generally perpendicular to the direction in which the object is driven, so that the object can be driven forward and backward.

Ultrasonic driving mechanism

An electronic camera is provided with an image pickup unit in a casing at a position opposite to an opening of the casing. The image pickup unit includes an image pickup device and an optical system. The electronic camera is further provided with a rotating mechanism for rotating the image pickup unit, a changer for changing over a photographing possible state and a photographing impossible state, and a controller for controlling the rotating mechanism to rotate the image pickup unit into a target position in response to the changer.

Electronic camera and image processing system

A communication device having an image transmission function such as a video phone or a camera-equipped cellular phone. The image transmission function is capable of capturing an object image using an optimal size.

Communication device having an image transmission function

A lens driving apparatus which drives a first and a second lens group arranged in the optical axis by a first drive means and a second drive means, wherein the apparatus has a first and a second cam followers extending mutually parallel in a right angle direction to the optical axis from the first and second lens groups and cam member having first and second cams arranged along the optical axis and respectively engaging the first and second cam followers.

Lens driving apparatus and photographic apparatus

A light image shift correcting device is provided with a planar member having a reference surface perpendicular to an optical axis of a focusing optical system, a shift correcting optical member having a flange portion at its periphery, an urger for movably pressing the shift correcting optical member against the reference surface of the planar member at a plurality of parts of the flange portion, a torus type piezoelectric actuator pressed against the flange portion by a part of the urger, and a controller for controlling the torus type piezoelectric actuator. The device can highly precisely control a light image shift correcting optical member despite its simple construction and can be made smaller.

Light image shift correcting device and an optical device

A driving mechanism for holding and shifting a part to be driven. The mechanism has at least three carrying elements for carrying the part elastically by exerting force upon the part in directions generally perpendicular to an axis of the part, at least one of the carrying elements being of a actuating type including a frictional actuator, the frictional actuator having a contact face for contacting the part under the pressure, the contact face oscillating at high frequency so as to make the part move in a direction almost rectangular to that of exerting the force upon the part.

Driving system with elastically supporting units

A lens driving device which does not make larger an apparatus in which the device is installed, which ensures a longer span for preventing a tilt of a lens therein, and which allows an easy access to the lens after assemblage is disclosed. The lens driving device includes a stationary board; a lens frame holding a lens group; a moving body like a flat plate one end of which is fixed to the lens frame in which the moving body is slid over the stationary board; and a rod, extending in an optical direction of the lens, which guides the moving body in the optical direction and is driven by a piezoelectric element. In the arrangement, the other end of the flat plate is frictionally held by the rod over a predetermined distance in the optical direction. When the piezoelectric element is supplied with a voltage with a predetermined waveform, the lens frame is driven in the direction of the optical axis by the moving body frictionally engaging the rod.

Drive and guide mechanism and apparatus using the mechanism

A plurality of movable lenses included in a zoom lens system are driven individually by piezoelectric actuators provided one for each lens. Two driving rods are arranged at different positions along the same line in such a way that neither of the driving rods reaches into the driving stroke of the lens driven by the other. Each driving rod has a piezoelectric actuator provided at its end farther from the other. Alternatively, a plurality of piezoelectric actuators are fixed to a single base block having a groove or a surface level difference to restrict propagation of vibration between the piezoelectric actuators. A graduated member having N-pole and S-pole regions formed alternatively thereon with a predetermined pitch is fixed, parallel to the driving rods, to the driving device itself. A magnetic resistance sensor is attached to each lens frame so as to face the graduated member. Based on the outputs of the sensors, the positions of the individual lenses are detected.

Driving device

A driving apparatus using a transducer. The apparatus comprises an electromechanical transducer, a driving shaft, a moving member and a pushing member. The driving shaft is coupled with the electro-mechanical transducer; the moving member is pushed against the driving shaft for frictional coupling therewith, the pushing member being interposed between the driving shaft and the moving member. The moving member is connected with the target moving object such as a lens mechanism. In operation, the electromechanical transducer is fed with driving pulses of a frequency of at least 18 kHz so that the transducer and the driving shaft will be displaced slowly in one direction and rapidly in the opposite direction, whereby the moving member coupled frictionally with the driving shaft is driven axially in a reciprocating manner at two different velocities. Repeating these operations allows the moving member to move slowly in the same axial direction in which the driving shaft is driven, whereby the lens mechanism or the like connected to the moving member is moved up to the desired position.

Driving apparatus using transducer

A lens holding frame holding a lens in a lens barrel is arranged, and a contact member extending therebelow is in friction coupling with a driving axis. By applying driving pulses having such a waveform that includes a moderate rising portion followed by an abrupt falling portion to a piezoelectric element, the holding frame is moved along the direction of the optical axis. An index provided at the holding frame is exposed through a slit of lens barrel, and from the position of the lens on the holding frame, information with respect to the distance to the object is displayed. Detection of the position of the holding frame is performed by a position sensor of ferromagnetic thin film magneto-resistive element type (MR sensor) so as to obtain positional information of the lens on the holding frame based on the detection signal, and the obtained information may be displayed on a liquid crystal or other display portion provided on the lens unit or on a camera body.

Apparatus for detecting and displaying position of a lens on an optical

A zoom lens system includes a plurality of lens units. First to third focal length zones are set according to the focal length. During focusing, in the first focal length zone, the lens units are moved at a first constant ratio, and in the third focal length zone, the lens units are moved at a second constant ratio which is different from the first constant ratio. In the second focal length zone, the movement ratio of the lens units varies according to the focal length.

Zoom lens system

The present invention discloses a lens barrel moving an optical system by a linear actuator using a piezoelectric element. The actuator is provided with the constitution whereby a driving member is driven by an extension displacement and a contraction displacement having different velocities caused by applying drive pluses to the piezoelectric element and a driven member frictionally connected to the driving member is linearly moved. The focusing operation is conducted by moving the optical system directly in the optical axis direction by the linear actuator.

Lens barrel having a piezoelectric actuator for moving optical elements

An apparatus for driving a collapsible lens mount having several telescoping segments includes, for each movable segment, a transducer that expands and contracts responsive to a wave pulse and a drive shaft coupled to the transducer. By varying the wave pulse conditions, the expansion and contraction are made to occur at different rates. A coupling member on each segment frictionally engages the drive shaft and transmits movement of the drive shaft during relatively slow drive shaft movements to the lens segment. The apparatus may also include a lens hood driven by the transducer and drive shaft apparatus of the invention.

Lens drive mechanism using an electro-mechanical transducer

A driving apparatus using a transducer. The apparatus comprises an electro-mechanical transducer, a driving shaft, a moving member and a pushing member. The driving shaft is coupled with the electro-mechanical transducer; the moving member is pushed against the driving shaft for frictional coupling therewith, the pushing member being interposed between the driving shaft and the moving member. The moving member is connected with the target moving object such as a lens mechanism. In operation, the electro-mechanical transducer is fed with driving pulses of a frequency of at least 18 kHz so that the transducer and the driving shaft will be displaced slowly in one direction and rapidly in the opposite direction, whereby the moving member coupled frictionally with the driving shaft is driven axially in a reciprocating manner at two different velocities. Repeating these operations allows the moving member to move slowly in the same axial direction in which the driving shaft is driven, whereby the lens mechanism or the like connected to the moving member is moved up to the desired position.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Minoru Kuwana