Patent ID: 6982761

Claim:
A three-dimensional image capturing device, comprising: a light source that radiates a distance measuring light beam irradiating a measurement subject, the measurement subject reflecting the distance measuring light beam to generate a reflected light beam; a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, configured in a matrix arrangement, that receive the reflected light beam, said photoelectric conversion elements accumulating electric charge corresponding to at least distance information based on an amount of the received reflected light beam; a vertical transfer unit that is disposed along each vertical line of said photoelectric conversion elements, said photoelectric conversion elements transferring the accumulated electric charge in a vertical direction; a horizontal transfer unit that is disposed near one end of said vertical transfer unit and in parallel with horizontal lines of said photoelectric conversion elements, so that the electric charge is transferred in a horizontal direction; an electric charge transfer processor that transfers electric charge accumulated only in photoelectric conversion elements comprising effective horizontal lines, which are disposed every predetermined number of the horizontal lines; an electric charge integrating processor that drives said electric charge transfer processor repeatedly and integrates the electric charge accumulated in said photoelectric conversion elements comprising the effective horizontal lines in said vertical transfer unit; and a transfer operation control processor that controls said horizontal transfer unit and said vertical transfer unit, so that said horizontal transfer unit is driven only when the electric charge corresponding to the effective horizontal lines is transferred to said horizontal transfer unit, wherein the horizontal lines are separated into first, second and third groups, which are arranged in a vertical direction such that an order of first group, second group, second group, third group, second group, second group is repeated.