Image pick-up apparatus including luminance control of irradiation devices arranged in a main scan direction

• US 7,623,689 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2004
• Issued: 11/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Shigeta, Kazuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Brian Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Park; Edward
• Application Number:
  US10/985,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20050105785A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,838 Days
• Field of Search: 382/124, 382/125, 382/126, 382/127, 382/115, 283/68, 356/71
• US Class Current: 382/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/141 Control of illumination
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1318 using electro-optical elements or layers, e.g. electroluminescent sensing
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1341 Sensing with light passing through the finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/14 Vascular patterns

Abstract

To provide an image pick-up apparatus, a fingerprint certification apparatus, and an image pick-up method capable of correcting a light volume unevenness by variation of the light volume in a plurality of light sources. An image pick-up device unit comprises pixels which are two dimensionally arranged, and images an object. A light source consists of a plurality of LEDs arranged in parallel to the main scan direction of the image pick-up device unit, and impinges a light on the object. A LED driving unit controls the luminance of a plurality of LEDs so that the light volume distribution of the center region of the main scan direction in the image pick-up device unit becomes more uniform.

Claims

1. An image pick-up apparatus, comprising:

image pick-up means for imaging an object;

a light irradiation unit comprising first and second groups of light emitting elements arranged at opposed sides with regard to a center of a side of an image plane along a main scan direction, and a third group of light emitting elements arranged at opposed outermost sides from the center line for irradiating said object with light, wherein each of the groups includes at least two light emitting elements;

estimating means for estimating a state of external light reaching said object from an environment outside of the image pick-up apparatus; and

exposure control means for controlling exposure of said object to said irradiating light in the image plane in said image pick-up means according to the external light state estimated by said estimating means, by controlling independently the light irradiation of at least the first and second groups of light emitting elements according to an incident direction of the external light, wherein said exposure control means comprises luminance control means for controlling the luminance of said light irradiation means, and an accumulation period control means for controlling an electrical charge accumulation period of said image pick-up means, and wherein said exposure control means controls both of said luminance control means and said accumulation period control means according to the external light state estimated by said estimating means, and

wherein the estimating means and the exposure control means estimate the state of external light and control exposure to said irradiating light by;

deriving image data under a condition of an exposure to the external light only by extinguishing all of the light emitting elements of the light irradiation unit, and calculating an average luminance data from the image data of three regions including a center region and both side regions along the main scanning region of the image plane;

determining whether or not each of the average luminance data from the image data of three regions is larger than a predetermined first reference value;

determining whether or not both of the average luminance data derived from both side regions are smaller than a predetermined second reference value, when all of the average luminance data derived from the three regions are larger than the predetermined first reference value;

determining which one of the average luminance data derived from one of the side regions is larger than the other of the average luminance data derived from the other of the side regions, when at least one of the average luminance data derived from both side regions is smaller than the predetermined second reference value;

controlling the light emitting elements to emit light such that a light emitting luminance of the light emitting elements of the group arranged in a region of both side regions from which the smaller average luminance data is derived is larger than a light emitting luminance of the light emitting elements of the group arranged in a region of both side regions from which the larger average luminance data is derived; and

adjusting an accumulation period of the image pick-up means so as to effectively use a dynamic range in evaluating an exposure quantity finally derived.

2. The image pick-up apparatus according to claim 1, comprising partial image control means which outputs a plurality of partial images of said object and controls the exposure within said partial image plane in said image pick-up means according to the external light state estimated by said estimating means when said object and said image pick-up means relatively move.

3. A biological certification apparatus, comprising the image pick-up apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The image pick-up apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure control means controls the exposure of said object to said irradiating light in the image plane in said image pick-up means according to the external light state estimated by said estimating means, and further by controlling independently at least one of the first and second groups and the third group according to a ratio of the light irradiation and the external light.