Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US4959726?ie=ISO-8859-1&dq=6,757,682
Timestamp: 2014-03-14 16:41:49
Document Index: 105545364

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 44', 'art 100', 'art 101', 'art 100', 'art 106', 'art 102', 'art 104', 'art 100', 'art 100', 'art 740', 'art 740', 'art 550', 'art 551', 'arts 550', 'arts 550', 'arts 552', 'arts 556', 'art 550', 'art 552', 'art 556', 'arts 556', 'art 556', 'art 562', 'art 562', 'art 563', 'art 562', 'art 562']

Patent US4959726 - Automatic focusing adjusting device - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsAn automatic focusing adjusting device for use in a camera is disclosed in which an operation processing on the phase difference detection to be executed when the focusing of an image pickup optical system is detected can be performed by means of an analog signal processing. In the automatic focusing...http://www.google.com/patents/US4959726?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US4959726 - Automatic focusing adjusting deviceAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS4959726 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 07/321,289Publication dateSep 25, 1990Filing dateMar 9, 1989Priority dateMar 10, 1988Fee statusPaidPublication number07321289, 321289, US 4959726 A, US 4959726A, US-A-4959726, US4959726 A, US4959726AInventorsTakashi Kagechika, Takashi Miida, Jin Murayama, Kazukiyo TamadaOriginal AssigneeFuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (5), Referenced by (20), Classifications (8), Legal Events (6) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetAutomatic focusing adjusting deviceUS 4959726 AAbstract An automatic focusing adjusting device for use in a camera is disclosed in which an operation processing on the phase difference detection to be executed when the focusing of an image pickup optical system is detected can be performed by means of an analog signal processing. In the automatic focusing adjusting device, when the distance measurement ranges in a light receiving part of sensor means are specified by operation means, then control means controls charge input preventive means in such a manner that only the signal electric charges that are stored in photoelectric conversion elements forming the light receiving part but belonging to the other distance measurement ranges that the ranges specified by the operation means are prevented from flowing into a readout part in the sensor means, whereby the distance measurement ranges in the light receiving part of the sensor means can be changed. Also, in the adjusting device, based on the output signal of the operation means or on the distance measurement information obtained from the sensor means, the distance measurement ranges in the light receiving part of the sensor means can be changed and the changed versions of the distance measurement ranges can be visibly displayed on display means.
What is claimed is: 1. An automatic focusing adjusting device capable of checking whether an image pickup optical system is in a focused state or not by detecting the relative positions of a pair of optical images of an object to be photographed as the distance measurement information, and, when the image pickup optical system is not in the focused state, driving the image pickup optical system in the direction of the optical axis thereof based on the detected relative positions until the image pickup optical system gets into the focused state so as to achieve the focusing of the image pickup optical system, said automatic focusing adjusting device comprising:sensor means including a pair of sensors each having a light receiving part consisting of a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a line manner, each of said photoelectric conversion elements forming a pixel, a storage part for storing the signal charges that are generated in said light receiving part for every pixel, a readout part for reading out the signal charges that are transferred from said storage part, and charge input preventive means for preventing the signal charges that are generated in said respective photoelectric conversion elements forming said light receiving part from flowing into said readout part, said sensor means being capable of photoelectrically converting said pair of object optical images by use of said pair of sensors and of outputting in a non-destructive manner an analog electric signal, which is generated by means of said photoelectric conversion and corresponds to one of said pair of optical images, and an analog electric signal, which is generated by means of said photoelectric conversion and corresponds to the other of said pair of optical images, while staggering said analog electric signals with respect to each other at a given cycle for every pixel; operation means for specifying a distance measurement range in each of said light receiving parts of said sensor means; and, control means responsive to said specification by said operation means for controlling said charge input preventive means in such a manner that only the signal charges that are stored in said photoelectric conversion elements but belong to one or more distance measurement ranges unnecessary for said distance measurement information in said light receiving parts are prevented from flowing into said readout parts. 2. An automatic focusing adjusting device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said operation means is switch means which can be manually operated to generate a signal for specifying the distance measurement ranges in said light receiving parts in said pair of sensors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims at eliminating the drawbacks found in the above-mentioned conventional automatic focusing adjusting devices.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The exact nature of this invention, as well as other object and advantages thereof, will be readily apparent from consideration of the following specification relating to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same of similar parts throughout the figures thereof and wherein:
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Detailed description will here under be given of the preferred embodiments of an automatic focusing adjusting device according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The light that has passed through the zoom lens is reflected upwardly by 90 36. When photographing, the reflector 34 jumps upward, so that the image of the incident light can be formed of the light receiving surface of the CCD 42 for image pickup. On the light receiving surface of the CCD 42 there are stored the electric charges that correspond to the image of the object and thus the electric signals that correspond to the patterns of the electric charges are output to a recording part 44.
Also, the light receiving part 100 is arranged such that it is spaced by a distance l1 apart from an optical axis 90, while the light receiving part 101 is arranged such that it is spaced apart from the optical axis 90 by a distance l2 which can be obtained by adding four pitch widths 4W to the distance l1 (that is =l1=4
In FIG. 5, the photoelectric conversion elements group of the light receiving part 100 (101) is constructed by arranging a plurality of N.sup.+ -type layers in a portion of a P-type expansion layer (P-well) formed in the surface of a N-type semiconductor substrate. Also, on the semiconductor substrate, by means of a Si0.sub.2 layer (not shown), there are arranged the barrier part 106 (107) which is adapted to generate a signal STS, a transfer gate electrode layer which forms the respective electric charge transfer elements of the storage part 102 (103), a gate electrode layer forming the transfer gate 108 (109), and a transfer gate electrode layer forming the respective electric charge transfer elements of the shift register part 104 (105). Also, adjacent to the shift registers 104 and 105, there are piled a poly-silicone layer which forms the floating gates Fr1 � Frn and Fb1 � Fbn, and an electrode layer Al which is to be clamped to a power source VDD. The electrode layer Al is arranged such that it can cover to whole upper surfaces of the plurality of floating gates Fr1 � Frn and Fb1 � Fbn. And, to the first ends of the respective floating gates there are connected the MOS-type FETs Mr1 � Mrn and Mb1 � Mbn.
Further, adjacent to the light receiving part 100 (101) that is arranged on the surface portion of the semiconductor substrate, there is provided a lateral overflow gate (LOG) 90 by means of the Si0.sub.2 layer (not shown), and adjacent to the lateral overflow gate 90 there is provided a lateral overflow drain (LOD) 92 on the surface portion of the semiconductor substrate.
A power supply voltage Vcc or a voltage VBA (VBA &lt; Vcc) can be supplied to the overflow gate 90 by means of a switch 94 which can be switched manually or automatically.
On the other hand, the unnecessary signal electric charges among the signal electric charges that have been produced by means of the photoelectric conversion by the light receiving part 100 (101) can be discharged out to the lateral overflow drain (LOD) area 92 by clamping the lateral overflow gate 90 to the power supply voltage Vcc (&gt;VBA).
On the other hand, a signal line which is extended from the terminal Pb0 (see FIG. 3) is connected to the inverted input terminal of a differential integrator 142 by means of a switching element 145 a capacity element Cs2 and a switching element 146 which are connected in series with one another, and also the two terminals of the capacity element Cs2 are respectively connected to ground terminals by means of switching elements 147 and 148. Between the inverted input terminal of the differential integrator 142 and an output terminal 149, there are connected a switching element 150 and a capacity element C.sub.I which are connected in parallel with each other.
The above-mentioned analog comparator 151 is adapted to output a polarity signal sign (k) of the "H" level when the level of operand signals that is, signals R(k), B(k) to be operated in the analog operation part 740 is R(k) ≧ B(k) and a polarity signal S n(k) of the "L" level for R(k) &lt; B(k). And, the voltage levels of the select signals φ1, φ2, φKA and φKB can be determined according to the level of the polarity signal sign (k).
At first, after the switching element 150 is turned on by a rest signal φ.sub.RST, which is output from reset means (not shown), to thereby discharge the unnecessary electric charges of the capacity element C.sub.I, the switching element 150 is again turned off, whereby an operation shown in FIG. 9 can be started.
On the other hand, when the relationship between the two operand signals is R(k) &lt; B(k) as in a period from the time 3 to the time t4, then the level of the polarity signal Sgn(k) becomes the "L", so that there are generated select signals which are opposite in phase to the select signals in the period from the time t1 to the time t2. It should be noted here that the select signals φ1 and φ2 are generated at the same timing regardless of the levels of the polarity signal Sgn(k).
During a former half sub-period T.sub.F1 of the period from the time t1 to the time t2, the switching elements 144 148 as well as the switching elements 140, 147 are respectively turned on by the above-mentioned select signals φ1, φ2, φKA and φKB, the operand signal R(k) is charged into the capacity element Cs1, and the unnecessary electric charges of the Cs2 are discharged. Next, during a latter half sub-period TR1 thereof, the switching elements 143 and 141 are turned on so that the electric charges of the capacity element Cs1 can be coupled to the those of the capacity element Cs2. At the same time, the switching elements 145 and 146 are turned on and the switching elements 147 and 148 are turned off, so that the operand signal B(k) can be supplied through the capacity element Cs2 to the differential integrator 142. As a result of this, an electric charge q(k), which is shown in the following equation (2), can be stored in the capacity element C.sub.I. ##EQU2##
On the other hand, when the relationship between the operand signals in R(k) &lt; B(k) as in the period from the time t3 to the time t4, during a former half section T.sub.F2 of the period from the time t3 to the time t4, the switching elements 144, 148 as well as 143, 145 are turned on, so that the operand signal B(k) can be charged into the capacity element Cs2 and the unnecessary electric charges of the capacity element Cs1 can be discharged therefrom. Next, during a latter half section TR2 of the period ranging from the time t3 to the time t4, the switching elements 147, 146 are turned on so that the electric charges of the capacity element Cs2 can be coupled to those of the capacity element C.sub.I, and, at the same time, the switching elements 140, 141 are turned on and the switching elements 143, 144 are turned off, so that the operand signal R(k) can be supplied through the capacity element C.sub.I to the differential integrator 142. As a result of this, an electric charge q(k), which is shown in the following equation (3), can be stored in the capacitor element C.sub.I. ##EQU3##
As can be understood clearly from the above-mentioned two equations (2) and (3), the analog operation part 740 is adapted to always store in the capacity element C.sub.I the electric charge that corresponds to the value obtained by subtracting an operated signal having a small level from an operand signal having a large level. For this reason, if processings are performed repetitively on the time-series operand signals R(1), ... R(n), B(1), .. B(n), then an absolute value H of a difference between these signals can be obtained as a voltage in the output terminal 745, as shown in the following equation (4). ##EQU4##
Now, referring to FIGS. 11(a) � (c), there are shown the examples of the waveforms of a signal Vout which is obtained from the output terminal 745 when the shift operations are performed 8 times. In particular, as shown in FIG. 11(a), if there occurs a pattern having a value which will be the smallest when l= 4, then it can be recognized that the image pickup optical system is in the focused state. Also, as shown in FIG. 11(b), if the correlation operation value obtained when l&lt; 4 is the smallest, then the image pickup optical system can be found in the forwardly focused state and, as shown in FIG. 11(c), if the correlation operation value is the smallest when l&gt; 4, then the image pickup optical system can be found in the rearwardly focused state. That is, the states of focusing and the amount of shifting can be detected at the same time from the values of l.
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The structure of the second embodiment will be at first described with reference to FIG. 14. This embodiment includes a first light receiving part 550 and a second light receiving part 551 respectively consisting of a group of photoelectric conversion elements Db1 � Dbn and a group of photoelectric conversion elements Dr1 � Drn which are used to convert photo-electrically pair of images of an object to be photographed, the paired images being formed by a separator lens (see FIG. 17) which is arranged in the optical system of the above-mentioned camera. The first and second light receiving parts 550 and 551, that is, the respective photoelectric conversion elements thereof are arranged in a line at given intervals L1 and L2 from the optical axis in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis. For example, if the pitch width of the respective photoelectric conversion elements Db1 � Dbn and Dr1 � Drn is expressed by W, then in order to shift 2N pixels, this embodiment is designed such that the interval L2 can be obtained by adding N pitch widths (N this embodiment, [here are arranged N pixels respectively on the right and left sides of the pixel line. Further, with respect to the respective light receiving parts 550 and 551, there are arranged storage parts 552, 553, transfer gates 554, 555 and shift register parts 556, 557 sequentially and side by side with one another
In FIG. 15, a plurality of N.sup.+ -type layers are formed in a portion of a P-type expansion layer (P well) formed in the surface portion of an N-type semiconductor substrate to thereby provide the photoelectric conversion elements of the light receiving part 550 (551). Also, on the semiconductor substrate, there are arranged side by side, by means of a Si0.sub.2 layer (not shown), a transfer gate electrode layer which forms the respective electric charge transfer elements of the storage part 552 (553), a gate electrode layer forming a transfer gate 554 (555), and a transfer gate electrode layer forming the respective electric charge transfer elements of the shift register part 556 (557). Further, adjacent to the shift register parts 556 and 557, there are arranged a polysilicone layer forming the floating gates Fb1 � Fbn, Fr1 � Frn, and an electrode layer Al to be clamped to the power source VDD. This electrode layer Al is arranged such that it covers the whole upper surfaces of the plurality of floating gates Fb1 � Fbn, Fr1 � Frn. And, to the first ends of the respective floating gates there are connected the MOS-type FETs Mb1 � Mbn, Mr1 � Mrn.
After then, during a period ranging from a time t6 to a time t7, by means of the MOS-type FETs Qb1 � Qbm, Qr1 � Qrm which are allowed to conduct and not to conduct sequentially in synchronization with square-shaped switching signals Kb1 � Kbm, Kr1 � Krm output from two counters 560, 561 respectively, the voltages that are generated in the respective floating gates Fb1 � Fbn, Fr1 � Frn are output the shift register part 556 (557). Further, adjacent to the to the common contacts Pb, Pr, and the voltages are further supplied as the time-series signals B(k), R(k) to the analog operation part 562 through the impedance conversion circuits 558, 559. In other words, the counter 560 supplies the analog operation part 562 m pieces of voltage signals out of n pieces of voltage signals (m&lt;n) that are respectively generated in the floating gates Fb1 � Fbn, while the counter 561 similarly supplies the analog operation part 563 m pieces of voltage signals out of n pieces of voltage signals respectively generated in the floating gates Fr1 � Frn (m&lt;n). And, the analog operation part 562 performs the difference operations based on these time-series signals B(k), R(k) and then outputs the first correlating operation value H(1). It should be noted here that the analog operation part in the first embodiment is used as the analog operation part 562.
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