Patent · US Expired

Autofocusing system

US6704054B1 · kind B1 · utility

21Cited by
8References
4Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 20, 1999
Grant dateMar 9, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 20, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N23/673
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An autofocusing system is comprised of an image pickup device which performs a photoelectric conversion of an image of a subject, formed through an imaging optical system, to produce an electric image signal. An image pickup unit, including the imaging optical system, produces the subject image. A driving device drives the image pickup unit through one of a first range and a second range the second range being smaller than the first range. A high-frequency component detecting device detects a high-frequency component in an image signal obtained while at least a portion of the image pickup device is shifted by a predetermined quantity through the use of the driving device. A focusing drive device adjusts a focal condition of an image by an image signal on the basis of an output of the high-frequency component detecting device. An infrared light detecting device includes a light-emitting device for radiating infrared light toward the subject and a light-receiving device for receiving reflected light produced by a reflection of the infrared light from the subject. The infrared light detecting device includes an output signal corresponding to a subject distance on the basis of an outpu…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.