CN108700279B

CN108700279B - Flash unit in camera-equipped portable device

Info

Publication number: CN108700279B
Application number: CN201780011464.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 山姆比特·布哈达
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-02-22
Filing date: 2017-02-21
Publication date: 2021-05-14
Anticipated expiration: 2037-02-21
Also published as: CN108700279A

Abstract

An adjustable electronic flash unit integrated into a portable camera-equipped device. The adjustable electronic flash unit comprises: a spherical housing rotatable to house the flash unit, at least four supports (32,34,36,38) provided to control rotation of the flash unit, and a plurality of LED flash bulbs located on an inner hemispherical surface of the housing. The flash unit is used to emit focused light to a specific object of interest.

Description

Flash unit in camera-equipped portable device

Technical Field

The field of the invention relates to a camera flash unit, and more particularly to a manually adjustable flash unit for improving image quality in a camera-equipped portable device.

Background

A portable device with a built-in camera includes a flash unit to be used as an artificial light source for photographing an object in a dark or dark environment. In order to capture an object with good image quality by using a built-in camera, it is important that the illumination of the object is appropriate. When the subject is photographed under low light, the image quality degradation is noticeable. Therefore, the ability to adjust to the respective lighting conditions is required.

One of the existing solutions provides a device for adjusting the exposure of a camera, which can take images by the following steps: previewing an image of the object under the current exposure degree, extracting data from a frame of the previewed object, analyzing the extracted data, and adjusting the exposure degree according to an analysis result. However, this method does not improve the image quality in terms of sharpness and brightness.

Thus, there is a need for using an adjustable flash, particularly for camera-equipped portable devices to capture clear, high quality images.

Disclosure of Invention

To generate an image of improved quality, embodiments of the present invention provide a manually adjustable flash unit in a camera-equipped portable device.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an electronic flash unit integrated into a camera-equipped portable device is provided. The flash unit is encased in a rotatable spherical housing. At least four cylindrical supports are provided to control rotation of the flash unit. The plurality of LED flash bulbs of the flash unit are disposed on an inner hemispherical surface of the housing. The flash unit is used to emit focused light to a specific object of interest.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the spherical shell is rotatable 180 degrees in both the x-axis and the y-axis directions.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the housing is divided into two hemispherical portions when the housing is mounted on the portable device. The first hemispherical portion projects significantly outward on the device for manual rotation of the flash unit. The second hemispherical portion includes the plurality of LED flash bulbs on an inner surface of the housing.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the flash unit is coincident with the x-axis in the normal position. When the flashlight is manually rotated towards the bottom, the intersection angle of the flashlight and the x axis is 120 degrees.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the aperture of the flash unit is centered on the x-y axis.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a portable device equipped with a camera and having an electronic flash unit. The flash unit has a rotatable spherical housing to house the flash unit. A plurality of LED flashbulbs are disposed on an inner surface of one of the hemispherical portions of the housing. Accordingly, the flash unit emits focused light to a specific object that a user wishes to be irradiated.

According to another embodiment, the camera-equipped portable device is capable of determining whether the flash unit is "on".

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the camera mounted in the portable device can capture an image in a daytime mode when the flash unit is turned "off".

Embodiments of the present invention improve the quality of images by providing an adjustable flash unit in a portable device that is manually rotatable and capable of focusing light onto an object of interest. Devices equipped with such adjustable flash units produce images that are much better in quality and clarity.

Drawings

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the reference number as first appearing in the drawing. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features of components.

FIG. 1 shows a general side view of a flash unit according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a front view of a flash unit according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a rear view of a flash unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a view of a flash unit according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows another view of a flash unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a light source according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a view of an aperture of a flash unit according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 8 illustrates a camera-equipped portable device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following discussion generally briefly describes a suitable computing environment in which embodiments of the invention may be implemented. The various aspects and embodiments are described in the general context of computer-executable mechanisms, such as routines executed by a handheld device, such as a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, cellular device, tablet computer, and so forth. Embodiments described herein may be practiced with other system configurations, including internet appliances, hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The various embodiments may be embodied in a specially programmed special purpose computer or data processor for performing one or more of the computer-executable mechanisms described in detail below.

Exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The terminology used in the detailed description of the particular exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements.

The description may refer to "an", "one", or "some" embodiment in several places. This does not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the same embodiment, or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. The respective features of the different embodiments may also be combined to provide further embodiments.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. Further, "connected to" or "coupled to" as used herein may include wirelessly connected or coupled. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations and permutations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The figures depict a simplified structure showing only some elements and functional entities, all of which are logical units, which may be implemented in a manner different from that shown. The connections shown are logical connections and the actual physical connections may differ. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the structure may also include other functions and structures. It should be understood that the functions, structures, elements, and protocols used in communication are not relevant to the present invention. Therefore, a detailed discussion is not necessary here.

Furthermore, all of the logical units depicted and described in the figures include software and/or hardware components required for operation of the units. Furthermore, each unit may itself comprise one or more components, as is implicitly understood. These components may be operatively coupled to each other and in communication with each other to perform the functions of the units.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of an embodiment in accordance with the invention. As can be seen, a spherical housing is provided for securing the flash unit to the portable device. The arrangement of the flash unit on the device may be such that the sphere is divided into two

hemispheres

10 and 12. One of the hemispherical portions 10 protrudes significantly outward on the device so that the user can manually rotate the flash unit to focus light on the object of interest. The second hemispherical portion 12 may be placed inside the portable device to place a plurality of flash bulbs of the flash unit and emit focused light toward an irradiated object. The structure of the strobe unit enables a user to easily reach the strobe unit for manual rotation.

Fig. 2 shows a front view of the flash unit. According to an embodiment of the invention, there are two externally visible areas in this view. The region 20 refers to an internal reflection surface located at the periphery and responsible for emitting light from the flash unit. Another region 22 is the flash light source assembly located in the center of the flash unit. According to a preferred embodiment, the flashlight light source assembly is cuboid in shape. The strobe Light source assembly used in the strobe unit may be a Light Emitting Diode (LED) or a metal halide lamp and a xenon arc lamp.

Fig. 3 shows a rear view of a flash unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, four

cylindrical holders

32,34,36, and 38 are provided from the rear side. The purpose of these brackets is to ensure that the user can rotate the maximum upper angular limit of the strobe unit. The flash unit 30 is centrally disposed and four

brackets

32,34,36 and 38 are placed around the flash unit. The flash unit may generate a photographic flash and a digital image taken by the camera. The remaining area 39 is shown as a reflective surface on the flash unit.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention shown in fig. 4 and 5, the position of the flash in the normal position and when the flash unit is rotated is shown. In the normal position of the flash unit, the emitted light coincides with the x-axis. For example, when the light source reaches the zenith as the flash unit rotates toward the bottom, the emitted light intersects the x-axis at an angle of about 120 degrees, as shown in FIG. 5. The

brackets

32,34,36 and 38 shown in fig. 3 can control the flashlight unit to rotate within an allowable range.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flash engine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flash engine includes a flashlight light source assembly, indicated generally at 22, which is preferably cuboidal in shape. The flashlight light source assembly described above may be a filament or an LED.

As shown in fig. 7, a view of an aperture of a flash unit is described according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to a preferred embodiment, an enlarged cubic aperture is shown at the center of the flash unit. The aperture is an opening for the combined light emission of the plurality of flash bulbs. The aperture is preferably used to reduce or enhance the luminous flux.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagrammatic representation of a camera-equipped portable device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A camera-equipped portable device includes an electronic flash unit having a rotatable spherical housing to house the flash unit, and a plurality of LED flash bulbs disposed on an inner hemispherical surface of the housing. Further, the flash unit provided herein emits focused light to a specific object to be irradiated, and the irradiated object can appear in the obtained image. The surroundings may comprise ambient light and by means of flashes emitted by the adjustable flash unit a specific object may be clearly illuminated.

The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The scope of the description herein is not to be limited by the specific embodiments, but only by the claims appended hereto.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, a software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a "circuit" or "module. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.

It will be understood that each step of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of steps, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, such as a scanner/inspection scanner, to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention. Although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. An electronic flash unit integrated into a camera-equipped portable device, comprising:

a rotatable spherical housing for housing the flash unit;

at least four brackets for controlling a maximum angular upper limit of rotation of the manual rotation of the flash unit;

a plurality of LED flashlamps positioned on the inner hemispherical surface of the housing, wherein

The flash unit is manually rotatable for emitting focused light towards a specific desired object;

wherein, when mounted on the device, the housing is divided into two hemispherical portions, a first hemispherical portion projecting significantly outward on the device for manual rotation of the flash unit, and a second hemispherical portion comprising the plurality of LED flash bulbs on an inner surface of the housing.

2. The flash unit of claim 1, wherein the housing is rotatable 180 degrees in both x-and y-axis directions, wherein the x-axis is a reference axis that coincides with light emitted by the flash unit in a normal position and the y-axis is a reference axis that is perpendicular to the x-axis.

3. The flash unit of claim 2, wherein the flash intersects the x-axis at an angle of 120 degrees when the flash unit is rotated toward the bottom.

4. A flash unit according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the aperture of the flash unit is located at the centre point of the x and y axes.

5. The flash unit of claim 1, wherein the cradle is cylindrical.

6. A portable device equipped with a camera, comprising:

an electronic flash unit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The camera-equipped portable device according to claim 6, wherein the device is capable of determining whether the flash unit is "on".

8. A camera-equipped portable device according to claim 6, wherein said camera in said device is configured to: when the flash unit is "off," an image is taken during the day.