Canon Patent For New Mount Type (non rotating elements when lens is not mounted)

Canon Patent For New Mount Type
Courtesy: Egami

Egami (translated) spotted an interesting patent filed by Canon. When mounting a lens on a camera body, and holding the lens, the rotating focus or zoom ring can make the operation more difficult. Imagine you have to switch lenses fast, the rotating elements of the lens can slow down the mounting of the lens. The Canon patent is for a new lens mount type that blocks all rotating elements of a lens when the lens is not mounted on a body, hence making mounting the lens easier (and faster). This is achieved by pins on the lens mount that block the rotating members inside the lens barrel. The new mount type is compatible with existing EOS mounts. That means lenses that will feature this new kind of mount can be used with existing EOS bodies.

Patent description (machine translated)

  • Patent Publication No. 2013-37090
    • 2013.2.21 Release Date
    • 2011.8.5 filing date
  • Rotatable operation unit: a rotating member
    • Ring, other zoom ring, focus ring, aperture
  • Canon patent
    • If you remove the lens from the camera, the rotation is restricted
      • Pins are provided on the surface of the lens mount
      • The boss is attached to (inside the lens barrel) end of the pin
      • Inside the lens barrel, the boss is brought into contact with the rotating member
      • Because of the boss, the rotating member is rotated never
    • When mounted on the camera lens, rotatable
      • Pin is provided on the mounting side of the body
        • Etc. F or mount EOS mount, mount a lot of this method
      • Body side pin, and push the pin on the lens, the position of boss will move
      • To the rotating member does not contact the boss, can be rotated

Canon Patent For Two New Fluorite Treated Lenses

Canon Patent
17-35mm f/2.8-4
Canon Patent
14mm f/2.8

Egami (translated) spotted a patent referring to two new lenses, a 14mm f/2.8 and a 17-35mm f/2.8-4, both with fluorite treatment. According to WIkipedia…:

Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. Crystal twinning is common and adds complexity to the observed crystal habits.

[…]

Optically clear transparent fluorite lenses have low dispersion, so lenses made from it exhibit less chromatic aberration, making them valuable in microscopes and telescopes. Fluorite optics are also usable in the far-ultraviolet range where conventional glasses are too absorbent for use.

Click here to see a Canon video about fluorite and lenses.

The patent:

  • Patent Publication No. 2013-37339
    • 2013.2.21 Release Date
    • Filing date 2011.7.12
  • Example 1
    • Zoom ratio 1.00
    • Focal length f = 1.00mm
    • Fno. 2.90
    • Half angle of view ω = 56.66 °
    • Image height Y = 1.52mm
    • 9.51mm length lens
    • BF 2.82mm
    • 6 aspherical surfaces, the first surface 25
    • Punctually
  • Example 3
    • Zoom ratio 2.06
    • 2.06mm – f = 1.00 focal length
    • Fno 2.79 -. 4.00
    • Half angle of view ω = 51.27 – 32.82 °
    • 1.33mm – Y = 1.25 image height
    • 8.55mm – 8.79 length lens
    • BF 2.41 – 3.46mm
    • Aspheric first surface, the fifth surface, the first surface 26
    • Positive and negative positive negative
  • Example 6
    • Zoom ratio 1.00
    • Focal length f = 1.00mm
    • Fno. 2.90
    • Half angle of view ω = 87.35 °
    • Image height Y = 21.60mm
    • 9.51mm length lens
    • BF 2.82mm
    • 6 aspherical surfaces, the first surface 25
    • Punctually

Canon Patent For Second Row Of Electronic Contacts

Canon Patent

Canon Patent

Egami (translated) spotted a Canon patent concerning a second row of electronic contacts on the lens mount. The patent suggests the second row of contacts is dedicated to the video signal, avoiding loss of signal strength could be the reason (the video signal needs more power supply).

  • Patent Publication No. 2013-21391
    • 2013.1.31 Release Date
    • 2011.7.7 filing date
  • Canon patent
    • In addition to the conventional first electronic contact, provided new second electronic contacts
    • Contact each other first and second non-overlapping so that
    • Corresponding to the new system
      • In addition to the video sync signal
      • In the serial clock, eliminating the need for transformation of the communication level
      • Because the focus of video requires a larger power supply

Canon Ranks Among Top Five U.S. Patent Holders For Over 25 Years

Press release:

Canon Reaches a New Record With More Than 3,000 Patents Issued

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., February 14, 2013 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, has announced that for the 27th consecutive year its parent company, Canon Inc., has ranked among the top five United States patent holders. Topping the 2011 figure of 2,813 patents, Canon reached a new high for 2012, obtaining 3,174 patents. In addition, Canon Inc. ranked first among Japanese companies and third overall in the United States for patents granted according to the latest ranking of preliminary patent results issued by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services.

Maintaining a dedication to research and development has enabled Canon to remain a leader in patents held, year after year. These patents have allowed the Company to expand into new product categories while continually improving on core technologies.

“The patents registered today will help lead to the innovations of tomorrow,” said Seymour Liebman, executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel, Canon U.S.A. “Making research and development a top priority has enabled us to continually provide customers around the globe with advanced products spanning various technology segments.”

Canon puts great emphasis on providing advanced technology that is ever-changing. Through close cooperation between Canon's technology and intellectual property divisions, the Company aims to improve its technological capabilities while further enhancing its intellectual property rights.

Canon Files Patent For 17-85mm F/4-5.6 Image Stabilized Lens

Canon Files Patent For 17-85mm

New Canon patent spotted by Egami (translated). This time the patent is about a 17-85mm f/4-5.6 lens with image stabilization. According to the patent, chromatic aberrations are reduced by anomalous partial dispersion, which, in turn, is obtained using synthetic resin and the inorganic oxide fine particles.

  • Patent Publication No. 2013-25085
    • 2013.2.4 Release Date
    • Filing date 2011.7.21
  • Example 1
    • Zoom ratio 4.70
    • 37.33 – – 82.48mm f = 17.55 focal length
    • Fno 3.98 -. 5.06 – 5.64
    • Half angle of view ω = 37.89 – 20.10 – 9.40 °
    • Image height 13.66mm
    • 134.85 – – 156.62mm 119.65 overall length of the lens
    • BF 37.59 – 52.48 – 62.64mm
    • 18 images in 11 groups lens configuration
    • 2 UD glass sheets
    • One two-sided aspherical
    • 5-group zoom negative positive negative
    • Inner Focus (Group 2)
[via Egami]

 

Canon Files Patent To Reduce Noise And Aliasing

2013_12850_fig02-fd920

 

Another patent spotted by Egami (translated). Canon filed a patent to reduce sensor noise and aliasing by better processing the sensor output.

  • Patent Publication No. 2013-12850
    • 2013.1.17 Release Date
    • Filing date 2011.6.28
  • Traditional thinning processing
    • Sensitivity for color signal is lower than the luminance signal, the human visual characteristic is not a problem even if thinned out color signals
    • If the algorithm requires a memory, in terms of response and undesirable Continuous
    • Frequency band of brightness and color are different, depending on the algorithm, causes color streaks
  • Canon patent
    • By aligning the frequency band decimation and interpolation processing to the luminance signal, suppress the color stripes
    • Do to reduce the amount of data to be converted from YRB RG1G2B, decimating the RB
      • Each frequency band is divided into storage (YRB1 ~ YRB4)

[via Egami]