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:
Jun. 03, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 02, 1998
Kouji Yokoyama, Yokohama, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A digital camera having a camera body and a lens assembly within an imaging unit which is rotatably connected to the camera body. Rotation of the imaging unit containing the lens assembly with respect to the position of the camera body causes the flash within the camera body to follow the direction at which the lens assembly is aimed. If the camera has a self-portrait mode in which the lens assembly can be aimed backwards at the user of the camera but the flash cannot be aimed backwards due to constraints of the camera body or if the flash cannot cover the complete angular range of the lens, a mechanism is utilized to couple the movement of the lens and the flash over a limited range of movement of the lens. Springs, concentric gears attached by springs, or a clutch mechanism may be utilized to selectively couple the flash with the lens rotation. By separating the flash from the lens, the red-eye phenomena will be reduced.