JP2000122192A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the outer peripheral image of a subject in a short time. SOLUTION: This image pickup device is equipped with an image pickup part 1 forming the image of the subject (h) and converting it to an electrical signal, and a reflection mirror M elliptically arranged on the periphery of the subject (h) and reflecting the image of the subject (h) to the image pickup part 1, and a direct image (front image) from the subject (h) and a reflected image (side surface image) reflected by the reflection mirror M are simultaneously fetched in the image pickup part 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus for capturing front and side images without rotating a subject or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to obtain a three-dimensional image, in order to photograph the outer periphery of the side of a subject, an object to be a subject is placed on a turntable, and the surroundings are rotated while rotating the object in front of a camera. I'm shooting. On the other hand, an object to be a subject is fixed, and a camera is rotated and moved along a circumference around the object to photograph the periphery of the object.

[0003]

However, such photographing has the following problems. That is,
It takes time to place the subject on a turntable and rotate it, or to move the camera around the subject circumferentially, and to photograph at least one circumference of the side circumference. In addition, the subject cannot be moved while rotating the subject or the camera to photograph the outer periphery of the side surface, which is not suitable for a moving subject such as an animal. Furthermore, since it is necessary to shoot a subject while still, it is possible to shoot only a still image.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an imaging apparatus made to solve such a problem. That is,
The imaging apparatus of the present invention includes an imaging unit that forms an image of a subject and converts the image into an electric signal, and a reflection unit that is arranged in an oval shape around the subject and reflects the image of the subject toward the imaging unit. ing.

In the present invention, since the reflecting means is arranged in an elliptical shape around the subject, the image on the outer periphery of the side surface of the subject is reflected by the reflecting means and captured by the imaging means without rotating the subject. Will be able to do it.
In the imaging means, a direct image (front image) from the subject
And the reflection image (side image) reflected by the reflection means can be captured at the same time.

[0006]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an imaging device according to the present embodiment, and shows a state viewed from above a subject h. That is, the imaging apparatus mainly includes an imaging unit 1 that captures an image of the subject h, a reflecting mirror M arranged in an elliptical shape around the subject h, and an electric signal based on the image of the subject h captured by the imaging unit 1. And a signal processing unit 2 for processing

[0007] The imaging unit 1 includes an imaging lens L for forming an image.
And an image sensor 11 (for example, C), which is a solid-state image sensor that receives input light passing through the imaging lens L and converts it into an electric signal.
A CD sensor or a CMOS sensor), and can simultaneously capture both a direct image (front image) from the subject h and a reflection image (side image) reflected by the reflector M.

The reflecting mirror M has an elliptical shape as a whole with a curved surface on the object h side.

In order to capture an image of the subject h with this imaging device, the subject h is arranged near the first focal point P1 of the elliptical shape in the arrangement of the reflecting mirror M, and the imaging unit 1 is placed near the second focal point P2 of the elliptical shape. Deploy. Note that the imaging unit 1 includes an imaging lens L
Is preferably arranged at the second focal point P2.

With this arrangement, each side image of the subject h is reflected by the reflecting mirror M and reaches the second focal point P2.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the arrival of light rays on an elliptical reflecting mirror. When the elliptical reflecting mirror M is configured as described above, all the rays emitted from the first focal point P1 of the elliptical shape are reflected by the reflecting mirror M, and then are reflected by the second elliptical shape.
It has the property of reaching the focal point P2.

For this reason, of the image of the subject h, the image of the part facing the imaging unit 1 is directly passed through the imaging lens L (see FIG. 1) of the imaging unit 1 (see FIG. 1).
See).

On the other hand, an image of a portion of the subject h that does not face the image pickup unit 1 is reflected by a reflecting mirror M arranged in an elliptical shape, and passes through an image forming lens L (see FIG. 1) of the image pickup unit 1 to form an image pickup device. 11 (see FIG. 1).

That is, the imaging section 1 can form an image of the outer periphery of the subject h at once without rotating the subject h or rotating the imaging section 1. As a result, not only a still life but also a moving subject h can be captured at once.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the side. In this configuration, the reflecting mirror M has no curvature in the vertical direction and has an elliptical shape only in the horizontal direction. The present invention is not limited to this, and a reflecting mirror M having an elliptical shape in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction may be used. In this case, it is desirable to hold the subject in the vicinity of the first focal point in both the vertical and horizontal elliptical shapes (for example, suspend the subject with a thin wire or a transparent thread, or float it using a magnetic action or the like). Keep).

As described above, the subject h
Is preferably arranged near the elliptical first focal point P1 of the reflecting mirror M, and the imaging unit 1 is arranged near the elliptical second focal point P2. With such an arrangement, signal processing by the signal processing unit 2 shown in FIG. 1 is facilitated.

That is, in the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment, an electric signal based on the image of the subject h captured by the imaging unit 1 is processed by the signal processing unit 2 using an elliptic function.
From the position where the image reflected by the reflecting mirror M is captured, which part of the subject h is the image is derived.

Here, the elliptic function is represented by the following equation (1). Note that the symbols a, b, and
s and s "represent the same components as those shown in FIG.

[0019]

(Equation 1)

If the stop position of the imaging lens L of the imaging section 1 is provided at the second focal point P2 of the elliptical shape of the reflecting mirror M, the ellipse represented by the above equation (1) will be obtained when the image processing section 2 performs signal processing. Using the function, it is possible to easily guide where an arbitrary image on the image sensor 11 is obtained from the subject h.

Even if the subject h or the image pickup section 1 is displaced from the elliptical focal position, the same signal processing can be performed by adding a predetermined coefficient.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image formed on the image pickup device of the image pickup section. The images include an image (front image) H1 directly formed from the subject and an image (side image) H2 formed after reflection via a reflecting mirror arranged in an elliptical shape. The image H2 formed after this reflection is actually displayed in a state where the side images of the subject are continuous.

As described above, the imaging section can simultaneously capture the front image and the side image of the subject.

In order to reconstruct the outer periphery of the object from the actually formed image, an image H1 directly formed as shown in FIG. 5 and an image H2 formed after reflection as shown in FIG.
Are separated by the signal processing unit 2 (see FIG. 1), and thereafter, an outer peripheral image of the subject is formed using the above-described elliptic function,
The outer peripheral image and the directly formed image H1 are combined. This makes it possible to obtain an image of the entire outer periphery of the subject.

In the image pickup apparatus of the present embodiment, since an image of the entire outer periphery of the subject can be captured at a time, not only a still life but also a moving subject can be photographed. , Holograms, and three-dimensional animations.

In the above embodiment, an example in which a curved surface is formed in an elliptical shape as the reflecting mirror M has been described, but a reflecting mirror may be formed by connecting elongated slender reflecting planes and arranging them in an elliptical shape.

[0027]

As described above, according to the imaging apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. That is, it is possible to obtain an outer peripheral image of the subject without rotating the subject or the imaging unit. Further, since an outer peripheral image of the subject can be captured at a time, even a moving subject can be photographed. As a result, it is possible to handle not only still images but also moving images. In addition, when capturing a still image, the outer peripheral image can be captured in a very short time, and since the subject and the imaging unit are not rotated, the device at the time of capturing can be stabilized and an image without blur can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an imaging device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the arrival of light rays on an elliptical reflecting mirror.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the imaging device as viewed from the side.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image formed on an image sensor.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a directly formed image.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image formed after reflection.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Imaging part, 2 ... Signal processing part, 11 ... Imaging element, h ... Subject, L ... Imaging lens, M ... Reflector, P1 ... First focus,
P2: Second focus

Claims (6)

[Claims] An imaging unit configured to form an image of a subject into an electric signal, and a reflection unit disposed in an oval shape around the subject to reflect the image of the subject toward the imaging unit. An imaging device, comprising: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object is arranged near a first focal point of the elliptical shape in the arrangement of the reflection means, and the imaging means is arranged near a second focal point of the elliptical shape. Imaging device. 3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a stop of the optical system in the imaging unit is arranged at the second focal point of the elliptical shape. 4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reflection means is arranged in an elliptical shape in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction. 5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reflection unit is arranged in an elliptical shape only in the horizontal direction. 6. A process for separating a direct image from the subject captured by the imaging unit and a reflection image reflected by the reflection unit, and performing an outer circumference on the subject based on a position of the image captured by the imaging unit. 2. A signal processing means for reconstructing an image according to claim 1.
An imaging device according to any one of the preceding claims.