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:
Sep. 23, 2003
Filed:
May. 30, 2001
Keiji Nagata, Kanagawa, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A focus detecting device having an auxiliary light mode, in which, when a focus is not appropriately first detected, a focus detecting operation for detecting the focus is executed with auxiliary light being projected. The focus detecting device includes a plurality of focus detecting areas, a detecting device for detecting a focus in each of the plurality of focus detecting areas, and a determination circuit for determining whether or not the focus detecting operation is to be executed in the auxiliary light mode based on the detected focus and a determination criterion, wherein the determination criterion is set to a predetermined value according to at least one of the plurality of focus detecting areas. Further, the focus detecting areas may be divided into groups each having at least two focus detecting areas, and the determination criterion can be set to a different predetermined value for each of the groups.