3D camera phone

• US 8,633,989 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2010
• Issued: 01/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Okuda, Tetsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Simon
• Application Number:
  US13/386,518
• Publication Number:
  US 20120270598A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,132 Days
• Field of Search: 455 411- 412, 455/552.1, 455/556.1, 455/557, 455/575.1, 455/575.3, 455/90.2, 455/66.1, 348/14.2, 348/42, 348 46- 48, 348373-376, 396/325
• US Class Current: 348/207.99
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0264 for a camera module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/239 using two 2D image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance H04N13/243 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings

Abstract

A 3D camera or camera phone capable of producing 3D or stereoscopic images includes a normal mode for creating 3D images of relatively far away objects and a macro mode for creating 3D images of relatively close objects. In one embodiment, the invention is a 3D camera system comprising first and second camera modules. The second camera module is movable relative to the first camera module between a first imaging position wherein the optical axes of the first and second camera modules are parallel and facing in the same direction, and a second imaging position wherein the optical axes of the first and second camera modules are converging.

Claims

1. A mobile communication device including a 3D camera system, said mobile communication device comprising:

a first camera module disposed on the mobile communication device;

a second camera module disposed on the mobile communication device, said second camera module being movable relative to the first camera module between a first imaging position wherein optical axes of the first and second camera modules are parallel and facing in the same direction, and a second imaging position wherein the optical axes of the first and second camera modules are converging;

a first section of the mobile communication device that houses the first camera module and a second section of the mobile communication device that houses the second camera module, the first and second sections being pivotally connected at a hinge and movable relative to one another between a closed position with the sections folded together in an overlapping arrangement and a non-folded open position;

the hinge being positioned between the first and second camera modules in each of the open and closed positions;

the optical axes of the first and second camera modules being non-parallel in the closed position.

2. The 3D camera system of claim 1 wherein the second camera module pivots about an axis between the first and second positions.

3. The 3D camera system of claim 2 further comprising one or more sensors to detect a relative angle between the optical axes of the first and second camera modules.

4. The 3D camera system of claim 2 wherein the first camera module is disposed on the first section of the mobile communication device and the second section includes a panel that is pivotally connected to a main body of the second section with the second camera module positioned on the panel.

5. The 3D camera system of claim 2 wherein the first camera module is disposed on an end of the first section and the second camera module is disposed on a back of the second section.

6. The 3D camera system of claim 2 wherein the first camera module is disposed on the first section of the mobile communication device and the second camera module is pivotally connected to the second section of the mobile communication device.

7. A mobile communication device including a 3D camera system, said mobile communication device comprising:

a first camera module disposed on a first section of said mobile communication device;

a second camera module disposed on a second section of the mobile communication device that is pivotally connected to said first section so as to be movable between a first imaging position wherein optical axes of the first and second camera modules are parallel and facing in the same direction, and a second imaging position wherein the optical axes of the first and second camera modules are converging;

the first and second sections movable about the hinge from the imaging positions to a closed position in which the first and second sections are arranged in an overlapping orientation, the optical axes being perpendicular in the closed orientation.

8. The mobile communication device of claim 7 wherein the first camera module is disposed on an end of the first housing section and the second camera module is disposed on a back surface of the second section.

9. The mobile communication device of claim 7 wherein the second camera module is pivotally connected to the second housing section.

10. The mobile communication device of claim 7 wherein the first camera module is disposed on a first surface of the mobile communication device and the second camera module is pivotally connected to the first surface.

11. The mobile communication device of claim 7 further comprising one or more sensors to detect a relative angle between the optical axes of the first and second camera modules.

12. A mobile communication device including a 3D camera system, said mobile communication device comprising:

first and second sections each including opposing front and back faces, and first and second longitudinal end faces that extend between the front and back faces;

a hinge pivotally connecting the first and second sections with the sections movable between a closed position with the sections in an overlapping orientation and the front faces facing together, and an open position with the front faces being exposed;

a first camera module disposed on the first longitudinal end of the first section and a second camera module disposed on the back face of the second section, each of the camera modules including an optical axis;

the first and second sections being movable about the hinge to the open position with the first and second camera modules facing in a common direction and the optical axes converging.

13. The mobile communication device of claim 12 wherein the first and second sections are further movable to another open position with the optical axes of the first and second camera modules being parallel and facing in the common direction.

14. The mobile communication device of claim 13 wherein the first and second sections are perpendicular in the another open position.

15. The mobile communication device of claim 12 wherein the hinge is positioned between the first and second camera modules in each of the open and closed positions.

16. The mobile communication device of claim 12 wherein the second section further includes a panel that is pivotally connected to a main body, the second camera module being positioned on the panel.

17. The mobile communication device of claim 16 further comprising input keys positioned on the front face of the first section and a display positioned on the front face of the second section.

18. The mobile communication device of claim 12 wherein the optical axes of the first and second camera modules are perpendicular in the closed position.