This Canon Patent Puts A Vacuum Cleaner Into A Lens To Keep The Sensor Clean

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Sounds weird? Well, it’s an actual Canon patent application.

Canon patent application 2019-191432 (Japan) discusses a lens design that incorporates the basic principle of a standard vacuum cleaner.

The specially designed lens has a an air flow circuit, as you can easily see in the image on top. Air is pulled in from the outside, hits the sensor, gets sucked away and flows out. Basically, this lens creates a negative pressure around the image sensor, so that dust and other particles don’t stick to the sensor. Quoting the patent literature:

An air intake channel for sucking air from the outside into the interior of the imaging device (200) by the pressure difference generated by the air flow generating means.

canon patent

Sound pretty awesome, and complicated too. From the patent abstract:

[Problem] To provide a dust removing device capable of easily removing dust adhering to an imaging element inside a camera body while confirming an actual influence degree.

[Means for solving] An outer housing having an engaging part for engaging with a lens mount detachably holding an imaging lens, and an inner side of the outer housing ;A communication unit for electrically connecting an inner housing and an imaging device to be arranged, a 1 passage penetrating into the body of the imaging device formed between the outer housing and the inner housing, a 2 passage penetrating into the body of the imaging device formed inside the inner case, and an engaging portion ;The device is provided with at least one optical member arranged on a photographing optical axis when engaged with an imaging device and on the inside of the inner case, an aperture mechanism, and an empty flow generating means arranged at a position not to erode a photographing light flux of the optical member in the 1 passage. A part of the 2 flow path is formed by the periphery of the optical member and an opening of the throttle mechanism

Don’t expect this invention to g to production anytime soon, if ever.

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via Canon News]

Canon Patent For RF 24-80mm f/4 Lens For EOS R System

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Canon patent application 2019-191607, spotted by Canon News, discusses optical formulas for a Canon RF 24-80mm f/4 lens for the Canon EOS R system.

  • Focal length 24.72 48.09 82.45
  • F number 4.12 4.12 4.12
  • Half angle of view ( 41.19 24.22 14.70
  • Image height 21.64 21.64 21.64
  • Total lens length 119.50 134.52 149.55
  • BF 13.50 18.71 22.73

The Canon patent also discusses the optical formula for an RF 24-130mm f/4 lens.

  • Focal length 24.72 63.46 131.00
  • F-number 4.12 4.12 4.12
  • Half angle of view (degree) 41.19 18.83 9.38
  • Image height 21.64 21.64 21.64
  • Total lens length 137.50 168.92 200.33
  • BF 13.50 24.03 28.27

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Canon Patent Application Roundup (dual sensor cam, shrinking MILCs, RF 50mm f/1.8, RF 14-28mm f/2)

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Some new Canon patent applications, all spotted by Canon News.

Canon Patent Application 2019-184921 discusses how to further shrink the size of a mirrorless camera:

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for suppressing an increase in the size of an image pickup apparatus due to the arrangement of a motor for driving a shutter.

Canon Patent Application 2019-186594 deals with the idea of a camera with dual sensors. Might produce some pretty cool HDR photography:

The half mirror 103 splits the imaging light beam (subject light beam) that has passed through the imaging optical system 102 into a first light beam and a second light beam. The first image sensor 104 and the second image sensor 105 receive the first light beam and the second light beam, respectively. The first image sensor 104 and the second image sensor 105 are constituted by a CCD image sensor, a CMOS image sensor, or the like. The first image sensor 104 and the second image sensor 105 have an image pickup pixel and a focus detection pixel for autofocus using a phase difference detection method. The MPU 106 includes a CPU and a memory that stores a program executed by the CPU, and functions as a control unit that controls the overall operation of the camera body 101. Further, the MPU 106 controls the driving of the photographing lens 102b via the lens driving motor 108.

Can the Canon EOS R system miss a Nifty Fifty lens? It looks like this has not to happen. Canon patent application 2019-184748 discusses optical formulas for an RF 50mm f/1.8 lens. Here comes the Nifty Fifty:

  • F-number 1.85
  • half angle (in degrees) 23.95
  • image height 21.64
  • total lens length 58.55
  • BF 20.94
  • Focal length 48.70
  • F-number 1.85
  • field angle 23.95
  • Image height 21.64
  • total lens length 58.55
  • BF 20.15
  • Focal length 48.70
  • F-number 1.85
  • half angle (in degrees) 23.95
  • Image height 21.64
  • total lens length 58.55
  • BF 16.48
  • Focal length 48.70
  • F-number 1.85
  • half angle (in degrees) 23.95
  • Image height 21.64
  • total lens length 58.55
  • BF 19.38

Canon patent application 2019-0324229 discusses optical formulas for an RF 14-28mm f/2 lens for the EOS R system

  • Focal length 14.42 19.78 27.16
  • F-number 2.06 2.06 2.06
  • Half angle of view 56.32 47.56 38.54
  • Image height 21.64 21.64 21.64
  • Total lens length 164.32 150.29 146.47 
  • BF 16.13 16.13 16.13

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Canon Might Have A Video Camera With RF Mount On Their Agenda, Patent

RF Mount
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Is Canon working on a video camera with RF mount? A patent suggest they might.

Canon patent application 2019‑161567 (Japan) describes a compact video camera that looks like the Canon XC10, and we think it has the RF mount, introduced by Canon with EOS R full frame mirrorless camera system.

Don’t get too excited, however. Most patent applications never go into production. Never the less, it might be a hint that Canon is investing in the RF mount. In any case, an interesting Canon patent application. Please note that the patent application doesn’t explicitly mention the RF mount. We think it might be an RF mount because according to the patent pictures, the lens mount is too close to the sensor to be an EF mount.

  • XC10
    The Canon XC10

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Here Is Another Canon Patent For IBIS (In Body Image Stabilisation)

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There might be no more doubt that Canon is actively working on IBIS (In Body Image Stabilisation). Here is another Canon patent application.

Canon patent application 2019-152785 describes an IBIS unit and its working. An excerpt from the paten literature:

Problems of the stage device as the blur correction mechanism of such an image pickup device include high efficiency in driving force generation and linearity improvement of a magnetic circuit for position detection. In response to this problem, Patent Document 2 discloses a configuration in which three magnets are arranged for each driving force generation unit to form a magnetic circuit using the concept of the Halbach array (hereinafter referred to as “Halbach magnetic circuit”).

it is possible to achieve high efficiency in generating driving force and to improve the linearity of the magnetic circuit for position detection

Some rumor outlets are presenting this patent application as the patent describing “the IBIS” Canon is going to feature on future cameras. We’d be a bit more cautious with such claims. There is nothing to proof it is “the IBIS”. More likely, it’s just one more IBIS patent in a long row.

We have no doubt IBIS is indeed coming to future Canon cameras. We would just be a bit more prudent and avoid saying it will be on board on Canon’s next EOS R model (which most likely it will not). Not on the next one, but maybe on the camera coming after.

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Canon Patent For Various Small/Pancake Prime Lenses For EOS R

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Just small or pancake prime lenses? We are not sure. We are just sure they are small and for the Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless system.

Canon patent application 2019-152683 discusses optical formulas for the following (small) prime lenses:

  • Canon RF 20mm F/2.0
  • Canon RF 35mm F/2.8
  • Canon RF 45mm F/2.8
  • Canon RF 35mm F/2.0

and a 16-35mm f/4 lens, also discussed in the patent application. The lenses appear to be non-L lenses, i.e. less expensive lenses. Are these pancake lenses, in you opinion?

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these: