US 12,192,603 B2Granted

Viewfinder unit with line-of-sight detection function, image capturing apparatus, and attachment accessory

AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorMasayasu Shigematsu

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A viewfinder unit includes an optical member between a display and an eyepiece, a first member holding the optical member in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the optical member, an illuminator, a second member holding the illuminator, a sensor picking up a photographer's eye image, a detector detecting proximity of the eye to the eyepiece, and an opening wider than a display area of the display in the optical axis direction. When the eyepiece is viewed in the optical axis direction, the illuminator is inside the opening and outside the display area. Part of a first area of the optical member, projecting from an outline of the first member in the optical axis direction, is inside the opening in the orthogonal direction, and at least one of the illuminator and the second member is in a second area surrounded by the outline and the first area.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A viewfinder unit comprising:

a display unit capable of displaying an image;
an eyepiece portion;
an optical member provided between the display unit and the eyepiece portion;
a first holding member configured to hold the optical member in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the optical member;
an illumination device configured to illuminate an eye of a photographer with a predetermined light;
a second holding member configured to hold the illumination device;
a sensor capable of picking up an image of the eye of the photographer, illuminated by the illumination device with the predetermined light, to detect a line of sight of the photographer;
an eyepiece detector capable of detecting proximity of the eye of the photographer to the eyepiece portion;
and
an opening provided in the eyepiece portion, wherein the opening is wider than a display area of the display unit when viewed in an optical axis direction of the optical member,
wherein, when the eyepiece portion is viewed in the optical axis direction, the illumination device is located inside the opening and outside the display area of the display unit,
wherein part of a first area of the optical member, projecting from an outline of the first holding member in the optical axis direction, is located inside the opening in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis,
wherein at least one of the illumination device and the second holding member is located in a second area where the second area is surrounded by the outline of the first holding member and the first area of the optical member, and
wherein the illumination device and the eyepiece detector are located in the same plane orthogonal to the optical axis.

11 more elements

A viewfinder unit comprising:

a display unit capable of displaying an image;
an eyepiece portion;
an optical member provided between the display unit and the eyepiece portion;
a first holding member configured to hold the optical member in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the optical member;
an illumination device configured to illuminate an eye of a photographer with a predetermined light;
a sensor capable of picking up an image of the eye of the photographer, illuminated by the illumination device with the predetermined light, to detect a line of sight of the photographer;
an eyepiece detector capable of detecting proximity of the eye of the photographer to the eyepiece portion;
and
an opening provided in the eyepiece portion, wherein the opening is wider than a display area of the display unit when viewed in an optical axis direction of the optical member,
wherein, when the eyepiece portion is viewed in the optical axis direction, the illumination device is located inside the opening and outside the display area of the display unit,
wherein part of a first area of the optical member, projecting from an outline of the first holding member in the optical axis direction, is located inside the opening in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis,
wherein the illumination device overlaps part of the optical member in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis, and
wherein the illumination device and the eyepiece detector are located in the same plane orthogonal to the optical axis.

10 more elements

An attachment accessory detachably attachable to a viewfinder unit provided with a display unit capable of displaying an image,

wherein the viewfinder unit includes:
an eyepiece portion,
an optical member provided between the display unit and the eyepiece portion,
a first holding member configured to hold the optical member in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the optical member,
an illumination device configured to illuminate an eye of a photographer with a predetermined light,
a second holding member configured to hold the illumination device,
a sensor capable of picking up an image of the eye of the photographer, illuminated by the illumination device with the predetermined light, to detect a line of sight of the photographer,
an eyepiece detector capable of detecting proximity of the eye of the photographer to the eyepiece portion, and
an opening provided in the eyepiece portion, wherein the opening is wider than a display area of the display unit when viewed in an optical axis direction of the optical member,
wherein, when the eyepiece portion is viewed in the optical axis direction, the illumination device is located inside the opening and outside the display area of the display unit,
wherein part of a first area of the optical member, projecting from an outline of the first holding member in the optical axis direction, is located inside the opening in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis,
wherein at least one of the illumination device and the second holding member is located in a second area where the second area is surrounded by the outline of the first holding member and the first area of the optical member, and
wherein the illumination device and the eyepiece detector are located in the same plane orthogonal to the optical axis, and
the attachment accessory comprising:
an elastic member configured to elastically deform with operation to remove the attachment accessory from the eyepiece portion.

12 more elements

An attachment accessory detachably attachable to a viewfinder unit provided with a display unit capable of displaying an image,

wherein the viewfinder unit includes
an eyepiece portion,
an optical member provided between the display unit and the eyepiece portion,
a first holding member configured to hold the optical member in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the optical member,
an illumination device configured to illuminate an eye of a photographer with a predetermined light,
a sensor capable of picking up an image of the eye of the photographer, illuminated by the illumination device with the predetermined light, to detect a line of sight of the photographer,
an eyepiece detector capable of detecting proximity of the eye of the photographer to the eyepiece portion, and
an opening provided in the eyepiece portion, wherein the opening is wider than a display area of the display unit when viewed in an optical axis direction of the optical member,
wherein, when the eyepiece portion is viewed in the optical axis direction, the illumination device is located inside the opening and outside the display area of the display unit,
wherein part of a first area of the optical member, projecting from an outline of the first holding member in the optical axis direction, is located inside the opening in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis,
wherein the illumination device overlaps part of the optical member in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis, and
wherein the illumination device and the eyepiece detector are located in the same plane orthogonal to the optical axis, and
the attachment accessory comprising:
an elastic member configured to elastically deform with operation to remove the attachment accessory from the eyepiece portion.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/837,566Filed 10 Jun 2022
Published: US 2023/0403450 A114 Dec 2023
Granted: 7 Jan 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

H04N 23/53
Constructional details: of electronic viewfinders, e.g. rotatable or detachable
G06F 3/013
Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality: eye tracking input arrangements
G06F 3/0304
Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form: detection arrangements using opto-electronic means
H04N 23/531
Of electronic viewfinders, e.g. rotatable or detachable: being rotatable or detachable

Family

US 2023/0403450 A1Pre-grant publication · published 14 Dec 2023
US 12,192,603 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key