CN216162754U - Image pickup device of image pickup composition system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a photographing apparatus of an image photographing composition system. An image capturing apparatus of an image capturing and combining system includes a plurality of lens units having substantially the same specification, the image capturing and combining system obtains one planar image or one stereoscopic image by combining images captured by the plurality of lens units, and the image capturing apparatus includes: a sensor that detects environmental information relating to the photographing apparatus; an electric drive device for synchronously and stepwise changing optical characteristics of the plurality of lens units; and an electric drive device driving unit that receives the detection signal from the sensor and transmits a drive signal corresponding to the detection signal to the electric drive device to drive the electric drive device. Accordingly, since the change in the environment is divided into a finite number of steps and the change in the image magnification per step is large, the ratio of the difference in the image magnification due to the variation in the respective photographing optical systems is small, and the ratio becomes a value that can be ignored in image synthesis, thereby enabling a natural synthesized image to be obtained.

Description

Image pickup device of image pickup composition system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to image photographing and combining technologies, and in particular, to a photographing apparatus of an image photographing and combining system.

Background

Image photographing and synthesizing systems such as VR systems and panoramic systems that produce synthetic images such as three-dimensional VR (Virtual Reality) images and panoramic images by photographing all around using a plurality of lens units and synthesizing the photographed images have been widely used. This image combining system uses a fixed-focus lens unit and a fixed-focus lens unit, and since the characteristics of the lens units constituting the image combining system are identical, it is easy to combine images captured by the lens units.

However, an image photographing and combining system using a fixed focus lens unit may not be able to cope with high accuracy of an image, and thus there is a demand for an image photographing and combining system capable of adjusting a focus. In addition, even if the image photographing composition system uses a fixed focus, fixed focal length lens unit, the focal position of the lens unit changes due to environmental changes such as temperature, and thus there is a need to correct the change in the focal position of the lens unit caused by environmental changes such as temperature.

It is known that the optical characteristics of the lens unit change due to the above-described focus adjustment and focus position correction. In an image photographing and combining system having a plurality of lens units, if focus adjustment or focus position correction is performed for each lens unit, the degree of focus adjustment or focus position correction required for each lens unit may not be the same, resulting in the optical characteristics of each lens unit becoming different from each other. Thus, since the sizes and the like of images generated from the respective lens units may be different, it is difficult to combine images captured by the respective lens units.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of this, the present disclosure proposes an imaging apparatus of an image photographing and combining system that ensures performance of each lens unit and facilitates combining of images photographed by each lens unit.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an image capturing apparatus including a plurality of lens units having substantially the same specifications, the image capturing and combining system combining images captured by the plurality of lens units to obtain one planar image or a stereoscopic image, the image capturing apparatus including: a sensor that detects environmental information related to the photographing apparatus; an electric drive device for synchronously and stepwise changing optical characteristics of the plurality of lens units; and an electric drive device driving unit that receives a detection signal indicating the environmental information from the sensor and transmits a drive signal corresponding to the detection signal to the electric drive device to drive the electric drive device.

Preferably, the image pickup apparatus includes a plurality of the electric drive devices corresponding to the plurality of lens units, respectively, and the electric drive devices receive the drive signals from the electric drive device drive units and change optical characteristics of the corresponding lens units in accordance with the drive signals.

Preferably, the electric driving device is a motor, and the electric driving device is provided in the corresponding lens unit.

Preferably, the plurality of electric drive devices are arranged on the same plane, and the directions of drive shafts of the electric drive devices of two adjacent lens units are arranged in opposite directions.

Preferably, the sensor is a temperature sensor.

Preferably, the plurality of lens units each include the sensor and the electric drive device, and the electric drive device driving unit receives a detection signal from each of the sensors and transmits a drive signal corresponding to the detection signal to each of the electric drive devices.

According to the image capturing apparatus of the image capturing and combining system, the image capturing apparatus changes the optical characteristics of the plurality of lens units in a stepwise manner in synchronization with the change in the environment. Accordingly, since the change in the environment is divided into a finite number of steps and the change in the image magnification per step is large, the ratio of the difference in the image magnification due to the variation in the respective photographing optical systems is small, and the ratio becomes a value that can be ignored in image synthesis, thereby enabling a natural synthesized image to be obtained. In addition, in the case of performing more accurate synthesis, when magnification data based on the position of the focus lens for each photographing optical system is input to the image synthesizing circuit, the number of steps of temperature is limited, and therefore image synthesis can be performed with a small amount of data, and miniaturization and cost reduction of the system can be achieved. Therefore, the performance of each lens unit can be ensured, and the images captured by each lens unit can be easily combined.

Other features and aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

Fig. 1 shows an external appearance of a video camera according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 2 shows a circuit configuration of the camera according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 3 shows a structure of one lens unit of the video camera of the present embodiment.

Fig. 4 shows a control circuit configuration of a focus lens unit drive motor of each lens unit according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 5 shows an external appearance of one lens unit of the video camera of the present embodiment.

Fig. 6 shows a cross section of a focus adjustment structure of the lens unit of the camera according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a plan view at the line ii-ii portion shown in fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows a relationship between temperature and the amount of movement of the focus lens.

Fig. 9 shows a relationship between the magnification m of the lens, the object distance a, and the distance b from the lens to the image.

Fig. 10 is a view for explaining the depth of focus.

FIG. 11 shows temperature versus depth of focus range.

Fig. 12 is a table for initial position setting of the lens.

Fig. 13 is a table for initial position setting of the lens.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the stepping operation of the focus lens unit driving motor according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the lens unit according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the startup initial setting processing according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart for explaining the temperature management processing according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the abnormality warning process according to the present embodiment.

Detailed Description

Various exemplary embodiments, features and aspects of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers can indicate functionally identical or similar elements. While the various aspects of the embodiments are presented in drawings, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless specifically indicated.

The word "exemplary" is used exclusively herein to mean "serving as an example, embodiment, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

Furthermore, in the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present disclosure. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without some of these specific details. In some instances, methods, means, elements and circuits that are well known to those skilled in the art have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present disclosure.

In the present embodiment, the image capturing apparatus of the image capturing and combining system includes a plurality of lens units having substantially the same specification, and changes the optical characteristics of the plurality of lens units in synchronization with each other and stepwise in accordance with a change in the environment, thereby changing the optical characteristics of the plurality of lens units to the same setting in accordance with the change in the environment. Since the change in the environment is divided into a finite number of steps and the image magnification change per step is large, the ratio of the difference in the magnification of the image due to the deviation of each photographing optical system is small, and the ratio becomes a value that can be ignored in image synthesis, and a natural synthesized image can be obtained. In addition, in the case of performing more accurate synthesis, when magnification data based on the position of the focus lens for each photographing optical system is input to the image synthesizing circuit, the number of steps of temperature is limited, and therefore image synthesis can be performed with a small amount of data, and miniaturization and cost reduction of the system can be achieved. Therefore, not only the performance of each lens unit can be ensured, but also the images captured by each lens unit can be easily combined.

Next, the functions and configuration of the image capturing and combining system according to the present embodiment will be specifically described by taking a camera having an image combining function as an example.

Fig. 1 shows an external appearance of a video camera according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, the camera includes 6 lens units 1 to 6 having substantially the same specification, and each of the lens units 1 to 6 has an imaging sensor for converting an image into an electric signal. Since the angle of view of each lens unit is, for example, 120 degrees or more, it is possible to obtain a full-circle 360-degree stereoscopic image by combining the images captured by the 3 lens units with one lens unit therebetween, thereby capturing 360 degrees all around. The camera of fig. 1 is a camera having two sets of 3 lens units each of which is separated by one lens unit,

in the example of fig. 1, since the angle of view of each of the adjacent lens units 1 and 2 is 120 °, and the optical axis thereof is inclined by 60 °, a stereoscopic image of half of the screen superimposed by 60 ° is generated. The same arrangement relationship is also applied between the adjacent lens units 2 and 3, between the lens units 3 and 4, between the lens units 4 and 5, between the lens units 5 and 6, and between the lens units 6 and 1. By synthesizing 6 stereoscopic images obtained by the 6 lens units, a stereoscopic image of 360 ° in the entire circumference is obtained.

The two groups of lens units can be switched to use, so that the service life of the camera can be prolonged. In addition, even if one group of lens units can not shoot 360 degrees in the whole circle, the other group of lens units can be switched to continue shooting 360 degrees in the whole circle, so that shooting omission of the camera is avoided.

In the present embodiment, a camera having 6 lens units is taken as an example, but the number of lens units included in the camera is not limited to this, and may be 2 or more, preferably 6 or more.

Fig. 2 shows a circuit configuration of the camera according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the camera includes lens units 1 to 6 each having imaging sensors 7 to 12, image recording devices 13 to 18, a memory 19, an image synthesizing device 20, and an observation device 21. The lens units 1 to 6 are connected to image recording devices 13 to 18, respectively, and the image recording devices 13 to 18 are connected to a memory 19, respectively.

The lens units 1 to 6 output image information obtained by shooting to the image recording devices 13 to 18, respectively, and the image recording devices 13 to 18 store the image information and store the image information in the memory 19. The image synthesizing device 20 reads image information from the memory 19, and performs image synthesis based on the read image information to obtain a 360 ° stereoscopic image over the entire circumference. The stereoscopic image synthesized by the image synthesizing device 20 is output to the observation device 21, and the user can observe the stereoscopic image synthesized by the image synthesizing device 20 through the observation device 21.

The cameras may not include the image recording devices 13 to 18, and the lens units 1 to 6 may directly output the captured image information to the memory 19. The camera may be provided with a wireless communication unit instead of the observation device 21, and the camera may communicate with the wireless communication unit of the observation device via the wireless communication unit to transmit the stereoscopic image synthesized by the camera to the observation device. The camera may be provided with a wireless communication unit instead of the image synthesizing apparatus 20 and the observation apparatus 21, and the camera may communicate with the wireless communication unit of the image synthesizing apparatus via the wireless communication unit to transmit the image information stored in the memory 19 to the image synthesizing apparatus.

Fig. 3 shows a structure of the lens unit 1 of the video camera of the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, the lens unit 1 includes a front group lens portion 30, an aperture 31, an aperture drive motor 32, a focus lens portion 33, a focus lens portion drive motor 34, a temperature sensor 35, an imaging sensor substrate 36, a substrate tilt adjustment screw 37, a substrate biasing spring 38, and a screw fixing portion 39.

The front group lens unit 30 is a main part constituting the lens unit, and generally includes a plurality of lenses, and the position of the front group lens unit 30 is fixed and cannot move. The diaphragm 31 is a member for adjusting the luminance of the lens unit 1. The diaphragm driving motor 32 is, for example, a stepping motor, and drives the diaphragm 31 to adjust the brightness of the lens unit 1. The focus lens unit 33 includes one or more lenses and is movable along the optical axis. The focus lens unit drive motor 34 is, for example, a stepping motor, and drives the focus lens unit 33 to move along the optical axis so as to move the focal position of the lens unit 1. Although not shown, the focus lens section drive motors 34 of the respective lens units are arranged on the same plane, and the directions of the drive shafts of the focus lens section drive motors 34 of the adjacent two lens units are arranged in opposite directions. The temperature sensor 35 is provided in the lens unit 1 and measures the temperature of the lens unit 1.

An imaging sensor 7 such as a CMOS sensor is provided on the imaging sensor substrate 36. The two substrate tilt adjusting screws 37 penetrate through portions of the imaging sensor substrate 36 on both sides of the imaging sensor 7, respectively, and the caps of the two substrate tilt adjusting screws 37 abut against one side of the portions, respectively. The two substrate tilt adjusting screws 37 are inserted through one substrate biasing spring 38, and one ends of the two substrate tilt adjusting screws 37 opposite to the cap portions are screwed to the screw fixing portions 39. By rotating the substrate tilt adjustment screw 37, the tilt of the imaging sensor substrate 36, that is, the tilt of the imaging sensor 7 can be adjusted, and the focal position of the lens unit 1 can be adjusted.

Fig. 4 shows a control circuit configuration of a focus lens unit drive motor of each lens unit according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 4, the temperature sensors (temperature sensors 1 to 6)35 and the motor control circuits (M1 to M6)41 are disposed corresponding to the focus lens section drive motors (M1A to M6A) 34. Each temperature sensor 35 detects the temperature of the corresponding lens unit, and outputs the detection result to the control circuit 42. The control unit 42 instructs the rotation of each focus lens unit drive motor 34 based on the detection result of each temperature sensor 35. For example, the average temperature, the maximum temperature, the minimum temperature, and the like of the detection results may be used as representative temperatures, and the focus lens unit drive motor of each lens unit may be controlled in a certain rule based on the representative temperatures. For example, the rotational direction and the amount of rotation of the focus lens section drive motor 34 may be controlled based on the detection result of the temperature sensor 35 and distance setting information shown in the drawings and described later. Each motor control circuit 41 is connected to each focus lens section drive motor 34, and each motor control circuit 41 controls the rotation of the corresponding focus lens section drive motor 34 based on an instruction input from the control circuit 42. The motor control circuit 41 and the control circuit 42 correspond to the "electric drive device driving section" of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the motor control circuit 41 and the temperature sensor 35 are separate circuits, but the motor control circuit 41 and the temperature sensor 35 may be integrated into one circuit.

Fig. 5 shows an external appearance of the lens unit 1 of the video camera of the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 5, the lens unit 1 is constituted by an optical member portion 51 and an imaging sensor portion 52. The optical member portion 51 incorporates the front group lens portion 30, the aperture 31, the aperture drive motor 32, the focus lens portion 33, the focus lens portion drive motor 34, and the temperature sensor 35 described above. The imaging sensor portion 52 internally includes an imaging sensor substrate 36, a substrate tilt adjustment screw 37, a substrate urging spring 38, and a screw fixing portion 39.

Fig. 6 shows a cross section of the focus adjustment structure of the lens unit 1 of the camera according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 6, the focus lens unit 33 includes a focus adjustment lens 57. The focus lens unit 33 further includes a reduction gear train 53, a gear 54, a focus adjustment frame 55, a coil screw 56, and the like. The focus adjustment lens 57 is fixed in the focus adjustment frame 55, and the reduction gear train 53, the gear 54, the focus adjustment frame 55, and the coil screw 56 are provided in the main body lens frame. The front group lens section 30 includes a fixed lens 58 located at the most image side.

The rotation of the focus lens section drive motor 34 is conducted to the focus adjustment frame 55 via the reduction gear train 53 and the gear 54, and becomes an action of the focus adjustment frame 55 in the optical axis direction of the lens unit due to the coil screw 56. Thereby, the focus adjustment lens 57 fixed to the focus adjustment frame 55 moves in the optical axis direction along with the movement of the focus adjustment frame 55, resulting in a change in the interval between the focus adjustment lens 57 and the fixed lens 58, and the focus position of the lens unit is adjusted.

Fig. 7 is a plan view at the line ii-ii portion shown in fig. 6. As shown in fig. 7, the outer portion of the frame of the focus adjustment frame 55 has a tooth portion 55a that meshes with the gear 54, and the tooth portion 55a actually meshes with the gear 54 by a coil screw 56, and the coil screw 56 is not shown in this figure. The photointerrupter 61 is fixed to the main body lens frame and detects the origin of the rotational position of the focus adjustment frame 55, that is, the origin position of the focus adjustment lens 57 in the optical axis direction. The photointerrupter 61 is generally referred to as PI, and therefore will be referred to hereinafter simply as PI. The light shielding plate 62 is provided on the focus adjustment frame 55 and is rotatable integrally with the focus adjustment frame 55. Further, the relative position of the light shielding plate 62 and the focus adjustment frame 55 can be adjusted in the circumferential direction.

When the light blocking plate 62 enters the detection area of the PI61 as the focus adjustment frame 55 rotates, the light emitted from the light source of the PI61 is blocked by the light blocking plate 62 and does not enter the detector of the PI61, and when the light blocking plate 62 leaves the detection area of the PI61 as the focus adjustment frame 55 rotates, the light emitted from the light source of the PI61 is not blocked by the light blocking plate 62 and enters the detector of the PI 61. The reference position of the focus adjustment frame 55 can be detected by detecting switching of the PI61 from the L state (state in which light is detected without being shielded by the light shielding plate 62) to the S state (state in which light is not detected due to being shielded by the light shielding plate 62) or switching from the S state to the L state.

Fig. 8 shows a relationship between temperature and the amount of movement of the focus lens. The focus lens movement amount refers to a movement amount of the focus adjustment lens 57 in the optical axis direction, that is, a change amount of a spacing distance between the focus adjustment lens 57 and the fixed lens 58 with reference to a position of the focus adjustment lens 57 in the optical axis direction at 20 ℃.

Since the change in the focal position due to the temperature change is linear with respect to the temperature change, the amount of movement of the focus lens with respect to the change in the focal position is also linear with respect to the temperature change as shown in fig. 8.

In fig. 8, the focus lens movement amount is adjusted in the negative direction, i.e., in such a manner that the distance between the focus adjustment lens 57 and the fixed lens 58 is reduced, on the high temperature side, and the focus lens movement amount is adjusted in the positive direction, i.e., in such a manner that the distance between the focus adjustment lens 57 and the fixed lens 58 is increased, on the low temperature side, with 20 ℃.

Fig. 9 shows a relationship between the magnification m of the lens, the object distance a, and the distance b from the lens to the image. As shown in fig. 10, the relationship is expressed by an expression of m ═ b/a, and when the distance b from the lens to the image changes, the image magnification changes, and the image size changes. When the temperature changes of the respective lens units are different, the focal position of the focus adjustment lens 57 in the optical axis direction in the corresponding lens unit is different after the focal position correction is performed for each lens unit, and thus the size of the image generated by each lens unit is different, and image combination is difficult.

Fig. 10 is a view for explaining the depth of focus. The depth of focus is a range in which the lens is not out of focus even if the focal point is slightly off. The minimum unit of converting light into an electric signal constituting the CMOS sensor is called a PIXEL (PIXEL), and one PIXEL is formed with 4 PIXELs constituting BGGR (three primary colors). A pixel is the smallest unit that constitutes an image. If within 2 pixels, the CMOS sensor does not detect defocus. This range is referred to as the circle of least confusion, and the diameter of the circle of least confusion is referred to as the circle of least confusion diameter.

In the figure, δ 'is the size of 1 pixel, the minimum circle diameter of confusion is represented by 2 δ', the depth of focus is represented by D, and the brightness of the lens is represented by Fno. Since Fno satisfies the relationship between focal length and effective aperture and a triangle denoted by D/2 δ 'has a similar relationship to the relationship between focal length and effective aperture, the depth of focus D can be denoted by D2 δ' and Fno.

For example, when Fno is 3.5 and the pixel size is 4 μm,

D＝3.5x4x2＝28μm＝0.028mm

due to the depth of focus D, even if the focal position deviates from the reference position by 0.028mm due to temperature change, defocus (blur) does not occur. Conversely, if the focal position deviates from the reference position by 0.028mm or more due to a temperature change, the focus is out of focus (blurred).

FIG. 11 shows temperature versus depth of focus range. In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 11, the temperature is divided into a finite number of steps, each step being 20 ℃. The numbers from T (-4) to T (4) are marked on the basis of the temperature point of 20 ℃. For each temperature point, a focus lens movement amount and a focal depth range are set. The depth of focus ranges from-0.028 mm to 0.028mm when T (0) is 20 ℃. The focal depth range of the adjacent temperature point T (1) is-0.048 mm-0.008 mm, and the focal depth range of T (0) and the focal depth range of T (1) are overlapped. The lower arrows in fig. 11 indicate the depth of focus range at each temperature point, and the mark indicates the position of focus. As shown in fig. 11, the depth-of-focus range at each temperature point overlaps with the focused position (#) at the adjacent temperature point, and therefore, even if the focus position is moved not by the movement amount set for the current temperature point but by the movement amount set for the adjacent temperature point, that is, the focus position is deviated by 1 step, there is no defocus.

Fig. 12 is a table for initial position setting of the lens. Fig. 12 is a table used when the initial position of the lens is set in fig. 15 as a flowchart. The table of fig. 12 shows temperature ranges corresponding to the respective temperature points t (m) — 4 to 4, and the number of rotation steps n1 of the focus lens driving motor 34 from the reference position (the position of the focus lens driving motor 34 at 20 ℃) necessary for correcting the focal position. In the table of fig. 12, a correction step number m is also shown, and the correction step number Δ m is the number of rotation steps of the focus lens section drive motor 34 required to correct the focal position between adjacent temperature points. In the table of fig. 12, the values of the temperature points t (m), the temperature ranges, the number of rotation steps, and the like are merely examples, and it is needless to say that other values may be used.

Fig. 13 is a table for initial position setting of the lens. In the present embodiment, the movement amount of the focus adjustment lens 57 required to correct the focus position, that is, the number of rotation steps N2 of the focus lens section drive motor 34 can be set for each of the focus to the far point (F) and the near point (N). The table of fig. 13 shows the movement amounts 2m and 1.2m of the focus adjustment lens 57 corresponding to the far point (F) and the near point (N), and the number of rotation steps (number of pulses) of the focus lens section drive motor 34. In the table of fig. 13, the values of the movement amount and the number of rotation steps are merely examples, and may be other values.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the stepping operation of the focus lens unit driving motor according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 14, the step operation of the focus lens unit drive motor is performed by switching from the S state to the L state in accordance with the setting of fig. 12, the setting of fig. 13, and the output signal of PI 61.

The position of the rotor of the focus lens unit drive motor 34 at the time of switching the signal of PI61 from the S state to the L state is set as the origin of the focus lens unit drive motor 34. Assuming that the current temperature is 20 ℃, based on the table of fig. 13, the focusing lens section driving motor 34 is driven to rotate 542 steps to reach the far point F, or the focusing lens section driving motor 34 is driven to rotate 767 steps to reach the near point N. Then, based on the temperature result detected by the temperature sensor 35, the number of further rotations of the focus lens unit drive motor 34 at the temperature point corresponding to the temperature result is obtained based on the table of fig. 12, and the focus lens unit drive motor 34 is driven by the number of further rotations.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the lens unit according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 15, the lens unit of the present embodiment is controlled as follows.

In step S101, the power switch is turned on to turn on the power of the camera, and the camera starts to operate.

In step S102, a power-on initial setting process is performed to set the position of the rotor of the focus lens driving motor 57 at a predetermined position, for example, a reset position shown in fig. 14. The specific contents of the power-on initial setting processing will be described in detail later.

In step S103, the focus lens driving motor 34 starts rotating with the reset position as a starting point.

In step S104, it is detected whether or not the output signal of the PI61 changes from the S state to the L state, that is, whether or not the light is detected from being shielded by the light shielding plate 62 to being shielded by the light shielding plate 62 and no light is detected. When the output signal of PI61 changes from the S state to the L state, the process proceeds to step S105.

In step S105, an initial position setting process is performed. That is, the number of steps n1 that need to be rotated when the focus lens unit drive motor 34 starts to rotate is set according to the current temperature based on the table of fig. 12.

In step S106, whether to focus on the near point or the far point is indicated by autofocus or manual selection. Then, based on the table of fig. 13, the number of steps n2 that the focus lens drive motor 34 needs to rotate is set in accordance with the instruction.

In step S107, a temperature management process is performed. The specific contents of the temperature coping process are described in detail later.

In step S108, the rotor of the focus lens section driving motor 34 is rotated by n1+ n2 steps to perform the temperature-based focal position correction.

In step S109, an abnormality warning process is performed to prevent the focus lens unit drive motor 34 from being burned out when the mechanism system has a failure and the energization of the motor is not stopped.

In step S110, it is determined that the power switch is turned off. When the power switch is turned off, the process proceeds to step S111, and when the power switch is not turned off, the process returns to step S106.

In step S111, the rotor of the focus lens driving motor 34 is returned to the reset position.

In step S112, the power supply is cut off, and the operation of the camera is stopped.

The control method of fig. 15 may omit step S109, step S111, and the like.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the startup initial setting processing according to the present embodiment. The specific processing is as follows.

In step S121, whether the output signal of the PI61 is in the S state or the L state is detected to determine the current position of the rotor of the focus lens driving motor 34. When the output signal of PI61 is in the S state, the process proceeds to step S122, and when the output signal of PI61 is in the L state, the process proceeds to step S124.

In step S122, the focus lens driving motor 34 is rotated in a direction to increase the distance between the focus adjustment lens 57 and the fixed lens 58.

In step S123, it is detected whether the output signal of PI61 changes from the S state to the L state. In a case where the output signal of the PI61 changes from the S state to the L state, the process proceeds to step S124. When the output signal of PI61 is not changed from the S state to the L state, step S123 is repeated.

In step S124, the focus lens driving motor 34 is rotated in a direction to reduce the distance between the focus adjustment lens 57 and the fixed lens 58.

In step S125, it is detected whether the output signal of PI61 changes from the L state to the S state. In a case where the output signal of the PI61 changes from the L state to the S state, the process proceeds to step S126. When the output signal of PI61 is not changed from the L state to the S state, step S125 is repeated.

In step S126, the focus lens driving motor 34 is rotated 3 steps in a direction to increase the distance between the focus adjustment lens 57 and the fixed lens 58, that is, the position of the rotor of the focus lens driving motor 34 is adjusted to a position 3 steps before the position of the rotor corresponding to the change of the PI signal from the S state to the L state, and then stopped. This is done to ensure the accuracy of the operation of continuing the rotation of the focus lens driving motor 34. Here, 3 steps are merely an example, and other number of steps is also possible.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart for explaining the temperature management processing according to the present embodiment. The specific processing is as follows.

In step S141, it is determined whether or not the current temperature exceeds the temperature range corresponding to the temperature at the time of setting the step number n1 in step S105 in fig. 12 and enters an adjacent temperature range. When the current temperature enters the adjacent temperature range, the process proceeds to step S142, and when the current temperature does not enter the adjacent temperature range, the process proceeds to step S144.

Assuming that the temperature at the time of setting the number of steps n1 in step S105 is 20 ℃, in fig. 12, the corresponding temperature number is T (0), the corresponding temperature range is 10 ℃ < T ≦ 30 ℃, it is determined whether or not the current temperature exceeds the temperature range of T (0) 10 ℃ < T ≦ 30 ℃ and enters the temperature range of 30 ℃ < T ≦ 50 ℃ of the adjacent T (1) or the temperature range of-10 ℃ < T ≦ 10 ℃ of T (-1).

In step S142, when the current temperature enters the adjacent temperature range, the number of steps n1 required for the focus lens drive motor 34 to rotate is set to the number of steps corresponding to the adjacent temperature range, based on the table of fig. 12.

For example, when the current temperature enters the temperature range of the adjacent temperature T (1) of 30 ℃ < T ≦ 50 ℃, the number of steps n1 of rotation required of the focus lens driving motor 34 is set to the step value corresponding to the adjacent temperature T (1), that is, 46.

In step S143, the value of the number of steps n1 of rotation required of the focus lens drive motor 34 remains unchanged at the value of the number of steps n1 set in step S105.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the abnormality warning process according to the present embodiment. The specific processing is as follows.

In step S130, the timer is started to determine whether the counted time exceeds a predetermined time. When the counted time exceeds the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S131. When the measured time does not exceed the predetermined time, the measurement is continued.

In step S131, the energization of the focus lens driving motor 34 is stopped.

In step S132, an abnormality warning is issued to the user.

According to the imaging device of the image photographing and combining system and the control method thereof described above, since the temperature is divided into a finite number of steps and the change in image magnification per step is large, the ratio of the difference in magnification of the image due to the deviation of each photographing optical system is small, and the ratio becomes a value that can be ignored in image combining, and a natural combined image can be obtained. In addition, in the case of performing more accurate synthesis, when magnification data based on the position of the focus lens for each photographing optical system is input to the image synthesizing circuit, the number of steps of temperature is limited, and therefore image synthesis can be performed with a small amount of data, and miniaturization and cost reduction of the system can be achieved.

In the above description, the case where the focal position is corrected in accordance with a change in the ambient temperature is exemplified, but the present invention can be applied to all changes in the optical characteristics of the imaging device, such as a change in the aperture caused by a change in the ambient temperature, a change in the focal length in the case of a zoom lens, and attachment and detachment of a filter. In these scenarios, the same effect is certainly obtained by causing the lens states of the plurality of lens units to change synchronously by a prescribed amount of change.

Having described embodiments of the present disclosure, the foregoing description is intended to be exemplary, not exhaustive, and not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terms used herein were chosen in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application, or technical improvements to the techniques in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims (6)

1. An image capturing apparatus of an image capturing and combining system including a plurality of lens units having substantially the same specifications, the image capturing and combining system combining images captured by the plurality of lens units to obtain one planar image or one stereoscopic image, the image capturing apparatus comprising:

a sensor that detects environmental information related to the photographing apparatus;

an electric drive device for synchronously and stepwise changing optical characteristics of the plurality of lens units; and

and an electric drive device driving unit that receives a detection signal indicating the environmental information from the sensor and transmits a drive signal corresponding to the detection signal to the electric drive device to drive the electric drive device.

2. The image capture device of an image capture composition system of claim 1,

a plurality of the electric drive devices respectively corresponding to the plurality of lens units are provided,

the electric driving device receives the driving signal from the electric driving device driving part, and changes the optical characteristic of the corresponding lens unit according to the driving signal.

3. The image capture device of an image capture composition system of claim 2,

the electric drive means is a step motor,

the electric driving device is arranged in the corresponding lens unit.

4. The image capture device of an image capture composition system of claim 3,

a plurality of the electric driving devices are arranged on the same plane,

the directions of the drive shafts of the electric drive devices of the adjacent two lens units are arranged in opposite directions.

5. The image capture device of an image capture composition system of claim 1,

the sensor is a temperature sensor.

6. The image capture device of an image capture composition system of claim 5,

the plurality of lens units each have therein the sensor and the electric driving device,

the electric drive device driving unit receives detection signals from the sensors, and transmits drive signals corresponding to the detection signals to the electric drive devices.

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