Abstract:
A simplified electronic camera and printer imaging system is provided that includes a single intelligence circuit preferably in the form of a PC card that is detachably connectable to either the camera or the printer for converting a data stream generated by the imaging sensor of the camera into stored data when connected to the camera, and converting the stored data into printer instructions, and relaying the printer instructions to the printhead when connected to the printer. The use of a single intelligence circuit to operate both a digital camera and printer advantageously simplifies the structure of the system, reduces costs, and enhances reliability by minimizing processing steps and circuit interfaces. In the preferred embodiment, the PC card containing the intelligence circuit includes a liquid crystal display and manual controls for displaying stored or real time images, capturing or erasing images, scrolling through stored images, and commanding a printer to render the images in hard copy form.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention generally relates to a system and method for using a single intelligence circuit in both a digital camera and printer, and is specifically concerned with the use of a single PC card to perform the primary data processing operations in both a digital camera and printer to simplify the structure of a camera/printer imaging system.  
           [0002]    Techniques for simplifying the structure of components used in digital imaging systems to reduce manufacturing costs are known in the prior art. For example, in the camera system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,617, and assigned to the Eastman Kodak Company, a digital camera is provided as a module that attaches to the signal bus of a PC compatible computer. This system advantageously eliminates the need for a separate intelligence circuit to be incorporated within the camera itself, as the camera in this system includes a PC-compatible interface connector for mating with a bus extension connector on the computer. Digitized data is directly transmitted from the camera to the signal bus of the computer so that the intelligence circuits of the computer can be used to perform all image processing, storage, and display functions. The elimination of the camera intelligence circuit not only simplifies the circuit architecture, but substantially reduces camera manufacturing costs as the microprocessor used in such circuits costs between $20.00 and $40.00 depending upon the speed and operating abilities required.  
           [0003]    While the camera-computer system disclosed in the &#39;617 patent represents a significant advance in the simplification of digital camera circuitry, its utility is limited since the digital camera must be continuously connected to the PC compatible computer during both the capturing and displaying of images.  
           [0004]    Clearly, there is a need for a completely portable, untethered digital camera that is fully capable of recording images without its own dedicated and relatively expensive microprocessor. Ideally, such a camera could be used in conjunction with a relatively inexpensive thermal or ink-jet printer to produce hard copies of images in photographic form. Finally, it would be desirable if the circuit-simplifying design of the digital camera also allowed the circuitry of the printer to be similarly simplified so that even larger reductions in manufacturing costs could be realized.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    Generally speaking, the invention is an electronic imaging system that utilizes a shared intelligence circuit to fulfill all of the aforementioned criteria. The system of the invention comprises first and second imaging components for capturing and rendering an image, respectively, each of which requires a primary intelligence circuit for operation, and an intelligence circuit that is detachably connectable to either of the imaging components during their operation. The system may, for example, comprise a camera having an imaging sensor for generating a stream of data representative of an image, a printer having a printhead for generating an image from a set of printer instructions, and a single intelligence circuit in the form of a PC card that is detachably connectable to either the camera or the printer for the operation of either. In the method of the invention, the intelligence circuit is first detachably connected to an image capturing component, which may be a camera, in order to convert data stream from an imaging sensor into stored image data. Next, the intelligence circuit is manually removed from the image capturing component, and detachably connected to the image rendering component, which may be a printer. The image rendering component in turn renders an image in accordance with instructions relayed from the intelligence circuit that are generated from the stored image data.  
           [0006]    The use of a single intelligence circuit to operate both a camera and a printer of an imaging system advantageously simplifies the system by obviating the need for separate and largely redundant intelligence circuits presently used in both the camera and the printer, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. The use of a single intelligence circuit also enhances the overall reliability of the imaging system by reducing processing steps and component interfaces.  
           [0007]    In the preferred embodiment, the intelligence circuit is a PC card having a liquid crystal display for displaying either a real-time or a stored image constructed from instructions generated by the microprocessor of the circuit. The PC card preferably includes manually operated controls for capturing, storing, erasing, and scrolling through images generated by the imaging sensor of the camera.  
           [0008]    In one embodiment of the system, the intelligence circuit within the PC card not only stores data from the imaging sensor of the camera, but further includes stored camera and printer-model operating programs for both the camera and the printer that are specific to the particular model and make of the camera and printer. In an alternative embodiment, both the camera and the printer include their own individual stored operating programs in the form of EPROMs. The second embodiment of the system has the advantage of allowing the intelligence circuit to be more versatile, as it can be used in conjunction with a variety of different models of cameras and printers having different features and operational capacities, i.e., zoom lens capabilities, picture editing features, etc. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the electronic imaging system of the invention, illustrating how a single, portable intelligence circuit is used to operate either a digital camera or a printer;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the intelligence circuit of the system, and  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a plan view of the PC card that houses the intelligence circuit of FIG. 2, illustrating the liquid crystal display and manual controls of the card. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]    With reference now to FIG. 1, wherein like numerals designate like components throughout all the several figures, the imaging system  1  of the invention may comprise a digital camera  3 , a printer  5 , and a shared PC intelligence card  7  which is detachably connectable to either the camera  3  or the printer  5 .  
         [0013]    The digital camera  3  includes a lens unit  11  disposed within a movable tubular housing  12  for gathering reflected light from a subject  13  to be photographed. A lens focusing assembly  15  which includes a small DC motor  17 , battery pack  19  and gear train  21  is provided for reciprocally moving the tubular housing  12  of the lens unit  11  in a manner well known in the art.  
         [0014]    Digital camera  3  further includes a flash unit  23  which is likewise powered by the battery pack  19  via connector wire  24 , and a photometer  25  for measuring the amount of ambient light in the vicinity of the subject  13 . Disposed behind the lens unit  11  are an electronic iris diaphragm  27 , electronic shutter  29 , infrared filter  31 , and imaging unit  33 , which may be a charged coupled device (CCD) sensor, such as KAF-400 full frame sensor manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company located in Rochester, N.Y. While not shown in FIG. 1, components  27 , 29  and  33  are each connected to and driven by the battery pack  19 . In operation, light from a subject  13  is focused onto the surface of the imaging unit from the lens unit  11 . The imaging unit includes a 640×480 pixel matrix of individual light sensitive elements which collectively generate a data stream representative of the subject  13 .  
         [0015]    The digital camera  3  may optionally have any erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM)  36  which contains an operating program that coordinates the functions of the lens-focusing assembly  15 , the flash unit  23 , the electronic diaphragm  27  and shutter  29 , as well as the activation of the imaging unit  33  whenever the shutter  29  is activated. Finally, the camera  3  includes both a card-receiving slot  38  for receiving the flat, rectangular body of the PC card, as well as a terminal  40  for engaging a row of input and output contacts  41  disposed along an edge of the card  7 . In the preferred embodiment, the digital camera  3  may have a structure that is essentially identical to that of the Model DC110 or 220 digital camera manufactured by the previously-mentioned Eastman Kodak Company, the only differences being the replacement of the primary microprocessor and associated programming and memory circuits with the aforementioned card-receiving slot  38  and terminal  40 .  
         [0016]    In this example, the printer  5  comprises a thermal printing unit  44  connected to control and power circuitry  46 , although ink-jet and other types of printers may be used as well. The printing unit  44  is formed from a ribbon advancing assembly  48  and a printhead mechanism  50 , both of which cooperate to thermally render an image onto a sheet of thermal printing paper  52 . A movable platen roller  54  supports the printing paper  52  as the printhead mechanism  50  sweeps over it to render an image thereon.  
         [0017]    The ribbon-advancing assembly  48  includes a drive roller  56  connected to the shaft  57  of an electric motor  58  for unwinding a strip of thermal print ribbon  60  from an opposing spool roller  62 . The thermal print ribbon  60  is formed from serially connected portions  64  containing cyan, yellow, and magenta coloring agents, respectively. Thermal printing unit  44  further includes a thermal printhead  66  having a linear row of closely spaced heating elements  68  for depositing coloring agents from the thermal print ribbon  60  onto the thermal printing paper  52  by fusion. A paper moving mechanism  70  is provided for moving the thermal printing paper  52  across the thermal matrix printhead  66  while a selected pattern of the heating elements  68  are actuated in order to deposit an image-forming pattern of coloring agents onto the paper  52 . Like the drive roller  56  of the ribbon advancing assembly  48 , the paper moving mechanism  70  is mechanically powered by the output shaft  57  of the electric motor  58 .  
         [0018]    The control and power circuitry  46  of the printer  5  includes a printhead driver and ribbon advance circuit  75  whose output is connected to the electric motor  58  via cable  76 . Circuitry  46  also has a printhead controller circuit  77  electrically connected to the heating elements  68  of the thermal matrix printhead  66  via a cable  78 . Finally, circuitry  46  includes a power supply  79  which is connected in parallel to the outputs of the circuits  75  and  77 . Essentially, the circuits  75  and  77  are power switching circuits formed from an array of power semiconductors whose outputs are modulated by the low-current printer instructions generated by the PC card. In addition to the circuits  75 ,  77 , and  79 , the control and power circuitry  46  may further include a EPROM  81  containing an operating program which coordinates the movement of the drive roller  56 , paper moving mechanism  70 , and the actuation of the heating elements  68 . The inclusion of the optional EPROMs  36  to the camera  3  and  81  to the printer  5  advantageously allows the intelligence circuit within the PC card  7  to operate a variety of different imaging systems formed from cameras and printers having different features and capabilities, such as zoom lensing, various picture editing abilities, etc. Finally, similar to the digital camera  3 , the printer  5  likewise includes a card-receiving slot  83  for receiving the body of the PC card  7  along with a terminal  85  for engaging the input and output contacts  41  present along an edge of the card  7 . The overall structure of the printer  5  may be the same as a Model No. DS 8650 thermal printer manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company with slot  83  and terminal  85  replacing its microprocessor and associated circuits. Alternatively, a Kodak Model No. HP890C ink jet printer may be used that has been modified in the same manner.  
         [0019]    With reference now to FIG. 2, the intelligence circuit  90  disposed within the card  7  includes a microprocessor  92 , and a button-type battery pack  94 . Preferably, microprocessor  92  is one of the commercially available family of reduced instruction set computers (known in the art as RISC-type processors) that are relatively fast, math intensive, and application-specific. Examples of such processors include the Model 821 Power PC manufactured by Motorola Corporation located in Phoenix, Ariz., and the Model MIPSR-4000 Processor manufactured by NEC Electronics located in Tokyo, Japan. Such processors are fully capable of rapidly implementing the JPEG still image compression algorithm used to control digital cameras such as the previously-mentioned Model DC110 and 220.  
         [0020]    The intelligence circuit  90  also includes an EPROM  96  for storing an operating program for the microprocessor  92  that allows it to convert the data stream received from the imaging unit  33  into printer instructions. Any one of a number of commercially available EPROM integrated circuits may be used for the EPROM  96  which preferably have a capacity of about 1 megabyte. In order to store the data generated by the imaging unit  33  of the camera  3 , the intelligence circuit further has a dynamic random access memory or DRAM  98  that is powered by the battery pack  94 . As the imaging sensor  33  preferably has a capacity of 640×480 pixels, the DRAM  98  should have a 20 megabyte capacity in order to store data for 20, one mega-pixel images or 100 compressed images. Examples of commercially available integrated circuits which can be used as the DRAM  98  include the Model MCM 51 LXXX DRAM manufactured by Motorola, or one of the series of AMD 29C600 DRAMs manufactured by Advance Micro Devices located in Beaverton, Oregon. In both cases, a total of three, 8 megabyte ICs may be used. Optionally, a flash RAM non-volatile memory may be substituted for the DRAM  98 , the advantage being that no button-type battery pack  94  would be necessary to preserve data captured in the memory of the intelligence circuit  90 .  
         [0021]    The intelligence circuit  90  further includes both a display driver circuit  100  for providing instructions to a liquid crystal image display  104 , and a mechanical programmable controller  102  for providing operational commands to the mechanical systems of the digital camera  3  and the printer  5 , i.e., the lens focusing assembly  15 , and the printhead driver and ribbon advance circuit  75 . Driver circuit  100  is normally part of the liquid crystal display module that forms the image display  104 , while mechanical programmable controller  102  may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company in accordance with known technology.  
         [0022]    The intelligence circuit  90  includes a user interface circuit  106  that includes the manual controls and indicator LEDs present on the body of the card  7 . All of the components  92 ,  96 ,  98 ,  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  are interconnected via an address data and input/output bus  107  as is schematically indicated, and with the exception of DRAM  98 , all of these components are powered by the battery pack  18  of the camera  3  or power supply  79  of the printer  5 .  
         [0023]    With reference now to FIG. 3, the card  7  includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen  108 . In the preferred embodiment, LCD screen is a low temperature, polysilicon-type screen, as such screens can be made with an overall thickness of approximately 1 millimeter and therefore not significantly contribute to the overall thickness of the body of the card  7 . The user interface  106  includes two light emitting diode (LED) indicators  109   a  and  109   b  for indicating whether or not either the camera or the printer is on or off, and further whether or not the button-type battery in battery pack  94  is running low, thereby jeopardizing the integrity of the images stored in DRAM  98 . Interface  106  further includes four manually operated arrow buttons  110  which may be used interactively with a control display  114  which appears in a comer of the LCD  108  when the card  7  is in operation. Finally, interface  106  includes an execute button  112  for executing a selected function in the display  114 .  
         [0024]    In the example of the control display  114  illustrated in FIG. 3, the system operator has inserted the card  7  into the camera  3  and has further selected the “live picture” function at the top of the display  114  by manipulating bottom-most arrow buttons  110 . In such a mode, the LCD  108  acts as a view finder for the system operator, displaying the still frame that will be stored within the DRAM  98  upon the actuation of the electronic shutter  29  of the camera  3 . If the system operator wishes to use the card  7  to capture a selected image, he depresses the bottom-most arrow button  110  to light up the “capture” title in the display, and then depresses execute button  112 . The number of image frames remaining in the DRAM  98  is displayed in the “frame number” box of the display  114 . If the operator wishes to display the frames already stored within the DRAM  98 , then he again pushes the bottom-most arrow button  110  to light up the “scroll” box of the display  114 , whereupon captured images in the DRAM  98  may be serially scrolled through by manipulating the sideways arrow buttons  110 . Of course, a different control display  114  would be exhibited when the card  7  was inserted into the receiving slot  83  of the printer  5 . It should be noted that the previously described control scheme on the card  7  has the ergonomic advantage of teaching a first-time user how to operate the printer  5  as the user first learns how to operate the camera  3 , since the display, scrolling, and erase functions for both the camera and printer are executed in the same way.  
         [0025]    Although the imaging system of the invention has been described with respect to a specific example, variations, additions, and modifications of this system will become evident to those of skill in the art. For example, while the imaging system has been described in terms of a camera and a printer, the system may be used with any other kind of imaging rendering device, such as an electronic photo-album, a PC video screen, a scanner, a transfer station, or an archive station. The camera may be still or video. While the intelligence circuit of the invention has been described in terms of a PC card, this circuit can assume the form of any portable module that is detachably connectable to both a digital camera or printer. Additionally, the intelligence circuit may perform all, most, or some of the intelligence functions of either the camera or the printer. As has been previously pointed out, the presence of an EPROM having a basic operational program in both the camera and the printer allows the card or other modular intelligence to be used in a number of different types of digital cameras and printers having different functions, i.e., zoom lens capacities, special print-editing functions, etc. All such variations, modifications, and additions are intended to be encompassed within the scope of this invention, which is limited only by the claims appended hereto.  
                                         PARTS LIST                                1.   System of the invention       3.   Digital camera       5.   Printer       7.   Shared PC intelligence card       11.   Lens unit       12.   Tubular housing       15.   Lens focusing assembly       17.   Motor       19.   Battery       21.   Gear train       23.   Flash unit       24.   Connector wire       25.   Photometer       27.   Iris diaphragm       29.   Electronic shutter       31.   Infrared filter       33.   Imaging unit       36.   EPROM       38.   Card-receiving slot       40.   Terminal       41.   Output contacts       44.   Thermal printing unit       46.   Control and power circuitry       48.   Ribbon advancing assembly       50.   Printhead mechanism       52.   Thermal printing paper       54.   Platen roller       56.   Drive roller       57.   Shaft       58.   Electric motor       60.   Thermal print ribbon       62.   Spool roller       64.   C-Y-M portion       66.   Thermal matrix printhead       68.   Heating elements       70.   Paper moving mechanism       75.   Printhead driver and ribbon advance       76.   Control cable       77.   Printhead controller       78.   Control cable       79.   Power supply       81.   EPROM       83.   Card-receiving slot       85.   Terminal       90.   Intelligence circuit       92.   Microprocessor       94.   Battery pack       96.   EPROM       98.   DRAM       100.   Display driver       102.   Mechanical driver       104.   Image Display       106.   User interface       107.   Address data and input/output bus       108.   LCD screen       109.   LED indicator       110.   Function controls       112.   Execute button       114.   Control display