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:
May. 11, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 21, 2002
Kazunari Kitani, Kanagawa, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A strobe control apparatus comprises a strobe control circuit of a separately excited oscillating type, where the strobe control circuit includes a main capacitor that stores a charge for exciting a strobe, a switching device having an ON state and an OFF state, and a transformer, connected to the switching device, that generates a charging current for charging the main capacitor. The strobe control apparatus further includes a CPU that receives a first clock signal and a second clock signal different from the first clock signal, outputs a switching signal to the switching device that repeatedly switches the switching device between the ON state and the OFF state in accordance with one of the first clock signal and the second clock signal, and outputs a strobe control signal to the strobe control circuit. A first timer receives the clock signal from the first oscillator and outputs a first timer signal; a second timer receives the clock signal from the second oscillator and outputs a second timber signal, and a protection circuit switches the switching device to the OFF state in response to either the first timer signal or the second timer signal, independently of the switching signal from the CPU.