The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 31, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 15, 1999
Hideki Tanabe, Ibaraki, JP;
Eiichi Ide, Itami, JP;
Hiroshi Uchino, Otokuni-Gun, JP;
Makoto Miyazaki, Ibaraki, JP;
Koichi Kamon, Takatsuki, JP;
Toshio Norita, Osaka, JP;
Minolta Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus and method for detecting a three-dimensional image. The apparatus includes a projector which projects a reference light on an object; an image sensor which senses an image of the object; and a controller for controlling the projector and the image sensor, wherein the image sensor includes an aperture that restricts the passage of entering light; and an aperture controller for setting an aperture value for the aperture when receiving a two-dimensional image input, and setting an aperture value for the aperture when receiving a three-dimensional image input. The aperture value is set based on the intensity of received reference light. A processing unit determines the position of the object based on a relationship between an illumination direction of the reference light at the determined time center Npeak and an entrance direction of the reference light relative to the target pixel. A flicker detector detects a change frequency in light received by the image sensor, and the controller controls the image sensor to sense frames of an image at a frequency which is a multiple of the detected change frequency.