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:
Aug. 17, 2010
Filed:
Oct. 31, 2006
Koichi Matsuo, Inagi, JP;
Akihiro Nakamura, Inagi, JP;
Isao Iwaguchi, Inagi, JP;
Tomohiko Fukawa, Inagi, JP;
Satoshi Fukui, Kato, JP;
Kozo Yamazaki, Inagi, JP;
Shuji Kimura, Inagi, JP;
Koichi Matsuo, Inagi, JP;
Akihiro Nakamura, Inagi, JP;
Isao Iwaguchi, Inagi, JP;
Tomohiko Fukawa, Inagi, JP;
Satoshi Fukui, Kato, JP;
Kozo Yamazaki, Inagi, JP;
Shuji Kimura, Inagi, JP;
Fujitsu Limited, Kawasaki, JP;
Fujitsu Frontech Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image capturing apparatus illuminates an object and captures an image of the object using the reflected light from the object. The image capturing apparatus includes an image sensor for capturing an image of the object by receiving reflected light, distance-measuring light-emitting devices for irradiating the object with spot light, and a control circuit for driving the distance-measuring light-emitting devices, detecting the spot light positions of the distance-measuring light-emitting devices from an image captured by the image sensor, and obtaining the distance to the object. The image sensor provided for capturing an image of the object can be used as a photodetector device for distance measurement. With this, it becomes unnecessary to separately provide a photodetector device for distance measurement, which enables miniaturization of the image capturing apparatus, as well as cost reduction.