# US 2016/0366288 A1 · Image capturing apparatus, image forming apparatus, distance measuring method, and computer-readable recording medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2016/0366288 A1 - Document ID: US20160366288A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/174,143 - Filed: 2016-06-06 - Published: 2016-12-15 - Earliest claimed: 2015-06-09 - Assignees: Ricoh Company, Ltd. - Inventors: Tomohiro SASA; Nobuyuki SATOH; Yuichi SAKURADA; Kenji MORITA; Masaya KAWARADA; Daisaku HORIKAWA - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20160366288A1 ## CPC - H04N 1/00023: {Colour systems} - G01J 3/0262: {Constructional arrangements for removing stray light} - G01J 3/027: {Control of working procedures of a spectrometer; Failure detection; Bandwidth calculation} - G01J 3/0289: {Field-of-view determination; Aiming or pointing of a spectrometer; Adjusting alignment; Encoding angular position; Size of measurement area; Position tracking} - G01J 3/0291: {Housings; Spectrometer accessories; Spatial arrangement of elements, e.g. folded path arrangements} - G01J 3/50: using electric radiation detectors - G01J 3/524: {Calibration of colorimeters} - H04N 1/00031: {Testing, i.e. determining the result of a trial (H04N1/00029 takes precedence; using test signals for transmission mode changing H04N2201/33371)} - H04N 1/00034: {Measuring, i.e. determining a quantity by comparison with a standard (H04N1/00031 takes precedence)} - H04N 1/00087: {Setting or calibrating (picture signal circuits H04N1/40)} - H04N 1/00249: {with a photographic apparatus, e.g. a photographic printer or a projector (photographic apparatus per se G03B, G03D)} - H04N 1/3872: {Repositioning or masking} - H04N 1/603: {controlled by characteristics of the picture signal generator or the picture reproducer} - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - G01J: MEASUREMENT OF INTENSITY, VELOCITY, SPECTRAL CONTENT, POLARISATION, PHASE OR PULSE CHARACTERISTICS OF INFRARED, VISIBLE OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT; COLORIMETRY; RADIATION PYROMETRY (light sources F21, H01J, H01K, H05B; investigating properties of materials by optical means G01N) ## Abstract An image capturing apparatus includes: a casing having an opening; a light source arranged inside the casing; a sensor arranged inside the casing and configured to capture, through the opening, an image of an object present outside the casing while the light source is on; and a distance calculator to calculate a distance between the casing and the object, based on an image that has been captured by the sensor and contains, within an image region of the object defined by the opening, a high-luminance region and low-luminance regions located more outside than the high-luminance region. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An image capturing apparatus comprising: a casing having an opening; a light source arranged inside the casing; a sensor arranged inside the casing and configured to capture, through the opening, an image of an object present outside the casing while the light source is on; and a distance calculator to calculate a distance between the casing and the object, based on an image that has been captured by the sensor and contains, within an image region of the object defined by the opening, a high-luminance region and low-luminance regions located more outside than the high-luminance region. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, based on a ratio of a size of the low-luminance regions to a size of the high-luminance region, the distance calculator calculates the distance. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first table retainer to retain a first correspondence table indicating a correspondence relation between the size of the low-luminance regions or of the high-luminance region and the distance, wherein based on the size of the low-luminance regions or of the high-luminance region and the first correspondence table, the distance calculator calculates the distance. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first corrector to correct color information on the high-luminance region, based on the distance calculated by the distance calculator. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a tilt calculator to calculate a relative tilt between the casing and the object, based on the image. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The image capturing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, based on the ratio of the size of the low-luminance regions to the size of the high-luminance region, the tilt calculator calculates the tilt. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The image capturing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a second table retainer to retain a second correspondence table indicating a correspondence relation between the size of the low-luminance regions or of the high-luminance region and the tilt, wherein based on the size of the low-luminance regions or of the high-luminance region and the second correspondence table, the tilt calculator calculates the tilt. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The image capturing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a second corrector to correct color information on the high-luminance region, based on the tilt calculated by the tilt calculator. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a colorimetric value calculator to calculate colorimetric values of the object, based on color information on the high-luminance region. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) An image forming apparatus comprising the image capturing apparatus according to claim 1. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of image capturing apparatuses each being the foregoing image capturing apparatus are arranged next to one another in a direction perpendicular to a conveyance direction of recording media, and in adjacent ones of the image capturing apparatuses, at least the calculation of the distances by the distance calculators is performed at different timing. ### Claim 12 A distance measuring method to be performed by an image capturing apparatus including a casing having an opening, a light source arranged inside the casing, and a sensor arranged inside the casing and configured to capture, through the opening, an image of an object present outside the casing while the light source is on, the distance measuring method comprising: calculating a distance between the casing and the object, based on an image that has been captured by the sensor and contains, within an image region of the object defined by the opening, a high-luminance region and low-luminance regions located on outer sides of the high-luminance region. ### Claim 13 A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium that contains a computer program for causing an image capturing apparatus to implement a function, the image capturing apparatus including a casing having an opening, a light source arranged inside the casing, and a sensor arranged inside the casing and configured to capture, through the opening, an image of an object present outside the casing while the light source is on, the function comprising: calculating a distance between the casing and the object, based on an image that has been captured by the sensor and contains, within an image region of the object defined by the opening, a high-luminance region and low-luminance regions located on outer sides of the high-luminance region.