Minolta Company, Ltd.

Tetsuro Kanbara

Kohtaro Hayashi

Masataka Hamada

Masayuki Ueyama

Akira Kosaka

Kazuhiko Yukawa

Minoru Kuwana

Manabu Inoue

Yoshihiro Hara

Hiroyuki Okada

Shinya Matsuda

Katsuyuki Nanba

Takashi Kondo

Takashi Matsuo

Junji Hashimura

Hitoshi Hagimori

Keiji Tamai

Hiroshi Ishibe

Satoshi Shinke

Shinichi Suzuki

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 camera having an image shift detecting function is provided with an optical system which forms a subject image, an image sensing device which converts light of the subject image into an electric signal, an image shift detecting sensor which detects a relative shift between the camera and the subject image based on an output of the image sensing device and a microcomputer which compensates for the relative shift between the camera and the subject image based on an image shift amount detected by the image shift detecting sensor. The microcomputer specifies an area of the image sensing device based on a direction of luminance variation of the subject image and the image shift detection is made by using only an output corresponding to the specified area.

Camera having an image shift detecting function

An actuator using an electromechanical transducer suitable for an apparatus where the magnitude of the load differs depending on drive directions. An apparatus using the actuator in which the actuator is arranged such that a direction of a further advantageous and further efficient displacement characteristic in elongation displacement characteristic and contraction displacement characteristic of the electromechanical transducer, is made to coincide with a drive direction where the load is larger. In the case of a mechanism of a camera for driving a correcting lens, an X-axis actuator and a Y-axis actuator are arranged at a base frame. The correcting lens is driven in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The Y-axis actuator is arranged such that a direction of a further advantageous displacement characteristic of an electromechanical transducer of the Y-axis actuator is made to coincide with a positive direction of the Y-axis where the load is larger in order to drive the correcting lens in the positive direction of the Y-axis against gravitational force.

Electromechanical actuator that compensates for an applied load and apparatus employing the same

An apparatus has a member to be driven, an actuator for driving the member, a position detector and a controller. The actuator drives the member to move by an amount proportional to a given number of pulses. The position detector detects a position of the member in predetermined detection steps. The controller determines in steps smaller than the predetermined detection steps a target position up to which the member is to be moved. Then, it controls the actuator up to a detection-step position before the target position by closed-loop control in accordance with a detection result from the detector. Further, it controls the actuator from the detection step position to the target position by open-loop control.

Apparatus having a driven member and a drive controller therefor

An actuator using an electro-mechanical transducer, the actuator comprising: the electro-mechanical transducer; a fixed portion securely coupled to one end of the electro-mechanical transducer to securely hold the electro-mechanical transducer; a driving member securely coupled to the other end of the electro-mechanical transducer to be displaced together with the electro-mechanical transducer; a member to be driven which is frictionally coupled to the driving member; and a support member for supporting one end of the driving member such that the driving member is movable in the direction of expansive or contractive displacement of the electro-mechanical transducer, wherein reciprocal vibrations are produced at different speeds in the driving member by causing the expansive or contractive displacement with the application of a drive pulse to the electro-mechanical transducer such that the member to be driven that is frictionally coupled to the driving member is thereby moved in a specified direction, and one end of the driving member is adhered to the support member with an adhesive agent having viscoelasticity.

Actuator using electro-mechanical transducer

A device, employing a piezoelectric element, drives an object such as a lens in a camera, in which it is possible to increase a speed of a moving part to drive the object without increasing a maximum value of pulse voltage inputted to the element. The device has the element one end of which is fixed to a base seat; a rod one end of which is fixed to the other end of the element; a moving part which is frictionally mounted on the rod; and a resonant induction part which is connected to the other end of the rod. The resonant induction part has a spring part one end of which is connected to the rod, and a weight part which is connected to the other end of the spring part. The rod resonates under an effect of the resonant induction part so as to increase the amplitude of the vibrating rod when the pulse voltage applies to the element; thus increasing the speed of the moving part relative to the base seat.

Drive mechanism employing electromechanical transducer and apparatus

A lens device has a stationary frame, a movable frame supported by said stationary frame so as to be movable in a first direction, a first drive device disposed between said stationary frame and said movable frame to drive said movable frame in a first direction, a lens holding frame to hold a lens element and support said movable frame so as to be movable in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and a second drive device disposed between said movable frame and said lens holding frame to drive said lens holding frame in a second direction, said movable frame, lens holding frame, and stationary frame being sequential in the direction parallel to the optical axis of said lens element.

Lens movable in a perpendicular direction to the optical axis

A drive device for driving an optical element suitable to be attached to a camera shake correction device. The drive device employs items molded from a synthetic resin in which the elastic deformation of the synthetic resin allows the oscillation of a piezoelectric element to be adequately converted to drive power. The drive device includes an electromechanical conversion element, a baseplate equipped with a securing area secured to one end of the electromechanical conversion element, and a drive member that is securely linked to the other end of the electromechanical conversion element and displaced together with the electromechanical conversion element. The device further includes a transport member constructed from a rigid synthetic resin material with a Rockwell hardness of about 120 or more and which is frictionally linked to the drive member.

Drive device using electromechanical conversion element

A controller determines the presence/absence of change in focal length caused by a zooming operation, and determines the necessity of correcting image plane shift caused by said change in focal length. Blur correction is prohibited when executing correction of image plane shift, and image plane shift is corrected by calculating the amount of movement of the focusing lens based on set focal length information, current position information of the focusing lens, and correction information stored in memory. When correction is unnecessary, the controller determines blur correction is permitted when the drive of the focusing lens ends, and executes the correction. The blur correction and the image plane shift correction are not executed simultaneously.

Lens drive controller and apparatus provided with drive controller

A compact film player has a picture reproducing unit and an information reading unit capable of reading a photographing information on each frame of the film. When a developed film is fed in an inlet of the picture reproducing unit in a prescribed direction, a scan mirror scans a picture provided on the film perpendicularly to the feed direction, so that a line sensor takes the picture every line. The line sensor and the scan mirror read two-dimensional pictures provided on the film. When the picture of the frame previously read is on display, the scan of the next frame is effected.

Still image reproducing apparatus saving time for still image

A lens system for compensating for shaking movement of a camera includes an objective lens system that forms the image and a compensating lens system interposed in the optical axis of the objective lens system. The compensating lens elements are driven by electro-mechanical transducers, which provides a compact system permitting a relatively small lens construction. A driving shaft is frictionally coupled to a support for the compensating lens elements and is attached to an electro-mechanical transducer, for example, a piezoelectric element that expands and contracts responsive to a pulse wave. A movement detector monitors the objective lens system and calculates an amount of shaking compensation needed, which is provided to a pulse generator.

Electro-mechanical transducer lens drive mechanism for a vibration

A camera shake compensation device for a photo-taking optical system includes a shake compensation optical element having an optical axis; a first holding member that holds the shake compensation optical element; a drive source that drives the first holding member in order to cause the shake compensation optical element to move such that the optical axis of the shake compensation optical element becomes eccentric with respect to an optical axis of the photo-taking optical system; and a second holding member that holds the first holding member by means of the drive source so that the second holding element can move along a photo-taking optical axis together with the first holding member and drive source during focusing or zooming by the photo-taking optical system.

Camera shake compensation device

Light source 1 is mounted to camera body 10 via supporting member 2. The image from optical system 11 is recorded on the film inside photo-taking frame 12. The light beam from the light source is recorded in an area outside the photo-taking frame as its brightness or wavelength or both are made to change over time. Image processing is conducted at the time of development based on this recorded data in the area outside the photo-taking frame so that the information pertaining to shaking may be canceled out.

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Sakai, Japan

Tetsuro Kanbara