# US 12,007,671 B2 · Systems and cameras for tilting a focal plane of a super-macro image > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,007,671 B2 - Document ID: US12007671B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/257,110 - Filed: 2022-06-07 - Published: 2023-12-14 - Granted: 2024-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2021-06-08 - Assignees: Corephotonics Ltd. - Applicants: Corephotonics Ltd. - Inventors: Noy Cohen; Michael Scherer - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12007671B2 ## CPC - G03B 17/12: with means for supporting objectives, supplementary lenses, filters, masks, or turrets - G03B 5/00: Adjustment of optical system relative to image or object surface other than for focusing - G03B 17/17: with reflectors arranged in beam forming the photographic image, e.g. for reducing dimensions of camera - G03B 30/00: Camera modules comprising integrated lens units and imaging units, specially adapted for being embedded in other devices, e.g. mobile phones or vehicles - H04N 17/002: {for television cameras} - H04N 23/54: Mounting of pick-up tubes, electronic image sensors, deviation or focusing coils - H04N 23/55: Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof - H04N 23/67: Focus control based on electronic image sensor signals - H04N 23/69: Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming - H04N 23/695: Control of camera direction for changing a field of view, e.g. pan, tilt or based on tracking of objects - H04N 23/90: Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums - G03B 2205/0046: Movement of one or more optical elements for zooming - G03B 2205/0069: using electromagnetic actuators, e.g. voice coils - G03B: APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR (optical parts of such apparatus G02B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; apparatus for processing exposed photographic materials G03D) - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract Systems having a Wide/Ultra-Wide camera, a folded Tele camera with an optical path folding element and a Tele lens module, a lens actuator for moving the Tele lens module for focusing to object-lens distances between 3.0 cm and 35 cm with an object-to-image magnification between 1:5 and 25:1, and an application processor (AP), wherein the AP is configured to analyze image data from the UW camera to define a Tele capture strategy for a sequence of Macro images with a focal plane slightly shifted from one captured Macro image to another and to generate a new Macro image from this sequence, and wherein the focal plane and a depth of field of the new Macro image can be controlled continuously. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A camera, comprising: an object side optical path folding element (O-OPFE) for folding a first optical path (OP1) to a second optical path (OP2); a lens; an image side optical path folding element (I-OPFE) for folding OP2 to a third optical path (OP3), wherein OP1 and OP2 and OP3 are perpendicular to each other; an I-OPFE actuator; and an image sensor with an image plane oriented parallel to a X-Y plane in an exemplary orthogonal XYZ coordinate system, wherein the camera is a super-Macro (SM) camera and has a focal plane, wherein in a zero-tilt focal plane position the focal plane is parallel to a X-Z plane, wherein in a zero-tilt I-OPFE position the I-OPFE forms an angle of 45 degrees with both the X-axis and the Z-axis and is parallel to the Y-axis, wherein the I-OPFE actuator is operative to tilt the focal plane around a first focal plane rotation axis that is parallel to the Z-axis by rotational actuation of the I-OPFE around a first I-OPFE rotation axis that is parallel to the Y-axis, and/or to tilt the focal plane around a second focal plane rotation axis parallel to the X-axis by rotational actuation of the I-OPFE around a second I-OPFE rotation axis that is parallel to the zero-tilt I-OPFE position and perpendicular to the Y-axis. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein OP1 and OP3 are oriented parallel to the Y-axis and OP2 is oriented parallel to the X-axis, wherein the image sensor is oriented parallel to the X-Z plane, wherein the I-OPFE actuator is operative to tilt the focal plane around the first focal plane rotation axis by rotational actuation of the I-OPFE around a third I-OPFE rotation axis that is parallel to the Z-axis, and/or to tilt the focal plane around the second focal plane rotation axis by rotational actuation of the I-OPFE around a fourth I-OPFE rotation axis that is parallel to the zero-tilt I-OPFE position and perpendicular to the Z-axis. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the SM camera is focused to object-lens distances of 3.0-15 cm. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the SM camera is focused to object-lens distances of 15-50 cm. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the focal plane is tilted by 0-20 degrees around the first focal plane rotation axis and/or the second focal plane rotation axis. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The camera of claim 5, wherein the I-OPFE is tilted by 0-20 degrees around the first I-OPFE rotation axis or the third I-OPFE rotation axis for tilting the focal plane by 0-20 degrees around the first focal plane rotation axis, and/or the I-OPFE is tilted by 0-20 degrees around the second I-OPFE rotation axis or the fourth I-OPFE rotation axis for tilting the focal plane by 0-20 degrees around the second focal plane rotation axis. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the focal plane is tilted by 0-40 degrees around the first focal plane rotation axis and/or the second focal plane rotation axis. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The camera of claim 7, wherein the I-OPFE is tilted by 0-40 degrees around the first I-OPFE rotation axis or the third I-OPFE rotation axis for tilting the focal plane by 0-40 degrees around the first focal plane rotation axis and/or the I-OPFE is tilted by 0-40 degrees around the second I-OPFE rotation axis or the fourth I-OPFE rotation axis for tilting the focal plane by 0-40 degrees around the second focal plane rotation. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the focal plane is tilted by 0-60 degrees around the first focal plane rotation axis and/or the second focal plane rotation axis. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the focal plane is tilted by 0-80 degrees around the first focal plane rotation axis and/or the second focal plane rotation axis. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein calibration data is used to calculate control signals for tilting the focal plane around the first focal plane rotation axis and the second focal plane rotation axis, and wherein the calibration data is dependent on the distance between the SM camera and an object to be captured. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein a first rotation stroke around the first or the second or the third or the fourth I-OPFE rotation axis is required for tilting the focal plane around the first focal plane rotation axis or the second focal plane rotation axis by a particular focal plane tilt stroke when the focal plane is located at a first distance from the SM camera, wherein a second rotation stroke around the first or the second or the third or the fourth I-OPFE rotation angle is required for tilting the focal plane around the first focal plane rotation axis or the second focal plane rotation axis by the same particular focal plane tilt stroke when the focal plane is located at a second distance from the SM camera, wherein the second distance is larger than the first distance, and wherein the first rotation stroke is smaller than the second rotation stroke. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the SM camera has an effective focal length of 7-10 mm. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the SM camera has an effective focal length of 10-20 mm. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the SM camera has an effective focal length of 20-40 mm. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the I-OPFE actuator is a voice coil motor. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the I-OPFE is a mirror. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the O-OPFE is a prism. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the lens is partitioned into two lens groups, wherein a first lens is located at an object side of the O-OPFE and a second lens group is located between an image side of the O-OPFE and an object side of the I-OPFE. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the SM camera is a scanning camera that scans a scene with a respective SM field-of-view. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the SM camera can be switched between two or more discrete zoom states. ### Claim 22 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein the SM camera can be switched continuously between a minimum zoom state and a maximum zoom state. ### Claim 23 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein a zoom factor of a maximum zoom state is twice a zoom factor of a minimum zoom state. ### Claim 24 (depends on 1) The camera of claim 1, wherein a zoom factor of a maximum zoom state is 2 or more times larger than a zoom factor of a minimum zoom state. ### Claim 25 (depends on 1) A mobile device comprising the SM camera of claim 1 and including an application processor (AP) configured to control the tilting of the focal plane. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The mobile device of claim 25, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone. ### Claim 27 (depends on 25) The mobile device of claim 25, wherein the AP is configured to use calibration data including rotation angles of the first and/or the second and/or the third and/or the fourth I-OPFE rotation axes, and object-lens distances for controlling the tilting of the focal plane around the first and/or the second focal plane rotation axes. ### Claim 28 (depends on 25) The mobile device of claim 25, wherein the AP is configured to control the tilting of the focal plane according to a user input. ### Claim 29 (depends on 25) The mobile device of claim 25, wherein the AP is configured to run an algorithm to tilt the focal plane automatically. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The mobile device of claim 29, wherein the focal plane is tilted so that an object of interest captured with the SM camera is entirely in-focus. ### Claim 31 (depends on 29) The mobile device of claim 29, wherein the focal plane is tilted so that an object of interest captured with the SM camera has a specific amount of out-of-focus deblur. ### Claim 32 (depends on 29) The mobile device of claim 29, further comprising a Wide camera and/or an Ultra-Wide camera, wherein the AP is additionally configured to analyze image data from any of the SM camera, the Wide camera, or the Ultra-Wide camera for tilting the focal plane automatically. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The mobile device of claim 32, wherein the image data is photodiode autofocus image data. ### Claim 34 (depends on 32) The mobile device of claim 32, wherein the analysis of image data uses a saliency map and/or an object detection algorithm. ### Claim 35 (depends on 32) The mobile device of claim 32, wherein the AP is configured to analyse image data from the Wide camera or the Ultra-Wide camera to steer a field-of-view (FOV) of the scanning camera towards a specific segment within a FOV of the Wide camera. ### Claim 36 (depends on 32) The mobile device of claim 32, wherein the AP is configured to analyse image data from the Wide camera or the Ultra-Wide camera to switch the SM camera to a specific zoom state for capturing Macro images which have a specific magnification and a specific field-of-view. ### Claim 37 (depends on 25) The mobile device of claim 25, wherein the AP is additionally configured to automatically capture an image or a stream of images after the focal plane is tilted.