Patent ID: 7061534

Claim:
A three-dimensional image capturing device, comprising: a center light emitting element that irradiates a distance measuring light beam to a predetermined area of a measurement subject, which reflects said distance light beam to generate a first reflected light beam; a plurality of peripheral light emitting elements that are disposed around said center light emitting element, and irradiate distance measuring light beams to peripheral areas around said predetermined area, which reflect said distance light beams to generate second reflected light beams; a distance measurement information sensing processor that receives said first reflected light beam and said second reflected light beams on a light receiving surface of an imaging device, so that distances from said imaging device to said predetermined area and said peripheral areas are sensed in accordance with the amount of light received by said distance measurement information sensing processor; and a light emission timing adjusting processor that adjusts the irradiation timings of said center light emitting element and said peripheral light emitting elements, in such a manner that, when said measurement subject is a flat plane parallel to said light receiving surface, said first reflected light beam and said second reflected light beams are simultaneously received by said light receiving surface.