WO2017143971A1

WO2017143971A1 - A flash unit in a camera equipped portable device

Info

Publication number: WO2017143971A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/074285
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sambit Bhadra
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2016-02-22
Filing date: 2017-02-21
Publication date: 2017-08-31

Abstract

An adjustable electronic flash unit integrated to a camera equipped portable device comprises a rotatable spherical casing to hold the flash unit, four supports (32, 34, 36, 38) provided to control the rotation of the flash unit, and a plurality of LED flash bulbs located on inner hemi-spherical surface of the casing. The flash unit is configured to emit focused light towards a specific object of interest.

Description

A FLASH UNIT IN A CAMERA EQUIPPED PORTABLE DEVICE

Field of the Disclosure

The field of the present disclosure pertains to a camera flash unit and particularly, to a manually adjustable flash unit in a camera equipped portable device for providing an improved image quality.

Background

Portable devices with a built-in camera include a flash unit to serve as an artificial light source for clicking a picture of an object during dim light or dark surroundings. In order to click an object with good image quality using a built in camera, it is important that illumination of the object is appropriate. When an object is photographed under low illumination, degradation of image quality is noticeable. Therefore, the ability to adjust to the corresponding illumination condition is required.

In one of the existing solutions, an apparatus is provided for adjusting an exposure of a camera by which an image can be photographed by previewing an image of an object with a current exposure level, extracting data from the frames of the previewed object, analyzing the extracted data, and adjusting an exposure level according to the analyzed result. However, the quality of image in terms of clarity and brightness is not improved by this method.

Therefore, there is a requirement of adjustable flash specifically in a camera equipped portable devicde to capture clear and good quality images.

Summary

In order to generate an improved quality image, embodiments of the present invention disclosure provide a manually adjustable flash unit in a camera equipped portable device.

In an embodiment of the present invention disclosure, an electronic flash unit integrated to a camera equipped portable device is provided. The flash unit is covered in a rotatable spherical casing. At least four cylindrical supports are arranged to control rotation of the flash unit. A plurality of LED flash bulbs of the flash unit are arranged on inner hemi-spherical surface of the casing. The flash unit is configured to emit focused light towards a specific object of interest.

According to an embodiment of the invention disclosure, the spherical casing is rotatable 180 degrees in each x and y axis.

According to another embodiment of the invention disclosure, the casing is divided into two hemi-spherical portions when mounted on a portable device. The first hemi-spherical portion visibly protrudes outwards on the device for manual rotation of the flash unit. The second hemi-spherical portion includes the plurality of LED flash bulbs on the inner surface of the casing.

According to an embodiment of the present invention disclosure, the flash unit in its normal position coincides with x-axis. When manually rotated towards the bottom, the flash light intersects x-axis at an angle of 120 degrees.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention disclosure, an aperture of flash unit is located at the center along x-y axis.

According to an embodiment of the present invention disclosure, a camera equipped portable device having an electronic flash unit is provided. The flash unit has a rotatable spherical casing to hold the flash unit. A plurality of LED flash bulbs arranged on inner surface of one of the hemi-spherical portion of the casing. As a result, the flash unit emits focused light towards a specific object that the user wishes to illuminate.

According to still another embodiment, the camera equipped portable device is capable to determine that the flash unit is to be switched “ON” .

According to another embodiment of the invention disclosure, the camera installed in the portable device is capable of photographing an image during day light when the flash unit is “OFF” .

Embodiments of the present disclosure improve the quality of an image by providing an adjustable flash unit in a portable device, which is manually rotatable and capable of focusing light towards the object of interest. The image generated by the device equipped with such an adjustable flash unit is much better in quality and clarity.

Brief Description of Figures

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

Figure 1 illustrates a generic side view of the flash unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 2 illustrates a frontal view of the flash unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 3 illustrates a rear view of the flash unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 4 illustrates a view of the flash unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 5 illustrates another view of the flash unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 6 illustrates the light source according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 7 illustrates a view of the aperture formed in the flash unit, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Figure 8 illustrates a camera equipped portable device, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

The following discussion provides a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which various embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The aspects and embodiments are described in the general context of computer executable mechanisms such as routines executed by a handheld device e.g. a mobile phone, a personalized digital assistant, a cellular device, a tablet et al. The embodiments described herein can be practiced with other system configurations, including Internet appliances, hand held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, mini computers, mainframe computers and the like. The embodiments can be embodied in a special purpose computer or data processor that is specifically programmed configured or constructed to perform one or more of the computer executable mechanisms explained in detail below.

Exemplary embodiments now will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein； rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey its scope 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 numbers refer to like elements.

The specification may refer to “an” , “one” or “some” embodiment (s) in several locations. This does not necessarily imply that each such reference is to the same embodiment (s) , or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes” , “comprises” , “including” 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. Furthermore, “connected” or “coupled” as used herein may include wirelessly connected or coupled. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations and arrangements 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 to which this disclosure pertains. 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 only showing some elements and functional entities, all being logical units whose implementation may differ from what is shown. The connections shown are logical connections； the actual physical connections may be different. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the structure may also comprise other functions and structures. It should be appreciated that the functions, structures, elements and the protocols used in communication are irrelevant to the present disclosure. Therefore, they need not be discussed in more detail here.

In addition, all logical units described and depicted in the figures include the software and/or hardware components required for the unit to function. Further, each unit may comprise within itself one or more components, which are implicitly understood. These components may be operatively coupled to each other and be configured to communicate with each other to perform the function of the said unit.

Figure 1 illustrates a side view according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As can be seen in the figure, a spherical casing is provided to hold the flash unit on a portable device. The arrangement of flash unit on the device may be such that a sphere is divided into two hemi-

spheres

10 and 12. One of the hemi-spherical portions 10 visibly bulges outwards on the device so that a user can manually rotate the flash unit in order to focus light on an object of interest. The second hemi-spherical portion 12 may be placed inside the portable device to hold multiple flash bulbs of the flash unit and to emit focused light on the object to be illuminated. The structure of flash unit is such that it is easily accessible by the user for manual rotation.

Figure 2 illustrates a frontal view of the flash unit. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, there are two areas visible from outside in this view. An area 20 refers to the interior reflective surface located on the circumference that is responsible to emit light from the flash unit. Another area 22 is a flash light source component located in the center of the flash unit. According to a preferred embodiment, the flash light source component is cuboidal in shape. A flash light source component used in a flash unit may be a Light Emitting Diode (LED) or metal halides and xenon arc lamp.

Figure 3 illustrates a rear view of the flash unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, four cylindrically shaped

supports

32, 34, 36 and 38 are provided originating from the rear side. The purpose of these supports is to ensure the maximum angular limit to which the flash unit can be rotated by a user. A flash component 30 is provided at the center and the four

supports

32, 34, 36 and 38 are positioned around the flash component. A flash component may generate a photographic flash along with the digital image captured by the camera. The remaining area 39 is shown as the reflective surface on the flash unit.

According to exemplary embodiments illustrated in Figure 4 and 5 of the present disclosure, the positions of flash light in normal position and on rotation of flash unit is shown. In the normal position of flash unit, the light emitted coincides with x-axis. For instance, when the flash unit is rotated towards bottom, the light source reaches the zenith level where the light emitted would intersect the x-axis at an approximate angle of 120 degrees, as illustrated in figure 5. The supports 32, 34, 36 and 38 as shown in figure 3 may be capable of controlling the rotation permitted in the flash unit.

Figure 6 illustrates a flash engine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The flash engine contains the flash light source component as referred by 22 which is preferably cuboidal in shape. The flash light source component as discussed above may be a filament or LED.

As illustrated in figure 7, a view of the aperture formed in the flash unit is depicted according to an embodiment of the present invention disclosure. According to a preferred embodiment, an enlarged cuboidal shaped aperture is shown at the center of the flash unit. The aperture is an opening from where the combined light of the plurality of flash bulbs is emitted. The aperture is preferably utilized for reducing or enhancing the illuminous flux.

Figure 8 illustrates a block diagrammatic representation of a camera equipped portable device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The camera equipped portable device comprises the electronic flash unit having a rotatable spherical casing to hold the flash unit, a plurality of LED flash bulbs arranged on inner hemi-spherical surface of the casing. Further, the flash unit provided here emits focused light towards a specific object to be illuminated. The resultant image may be clicked along with the illuminated object. The surroundings may contain the ambient light and the specific object may be clearly illuminated with the help of flash light emitted by the adjustable flash unit.

The abovementioned description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. 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. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather 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 all generally 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 block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, 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.

Instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus like a scanner/check 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 provide steps for implementing 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

An electronic flash unit integrated to a camera equipped portable device comprising:

a rotatable spherical casing to hold the flash unit；

at least four supports arranged to control rotation of the flash unit；

a plurality of LED flash bulbs located on inner hemi-spherical surface of the casing；

the flash unit being configured to emit focused light towards a specific object of interest.
The flash unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the casing is rotatable 180 degrees in each x and y axis.
The flash unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the casing is divided into two hemi-spherical portions when mounted on the device.
The flash unit as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first hemi-spherical portion visibly protrudes outwards on the device for manual rotation of the flash unit.
The flash unit as claimed in claim 3, wherein the second hemi-spherical portion includes the plurality of LED flash bulbs on the inner surface of the casing.
The flash unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the normal position of flash unit coincides with x-axis.
The flash unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flash light intersects x-axis at an angle of 120 degrees when the flash unit is rotated towards the bottom.
The flash unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein an aperture of flash unit is located at the center along x-y axis.
The flash unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supports are cylindrical in shape.
A camera equipped portable device comprising:

an electronic flash unit having a rotatable spherical casing to hold the flash unit；

a plurality of LED flash bulbs arranged on inner hemi-spherical surface of the casing；

the flash unit being configured to emit focused light towards a specific object of interest,
The camera equipped portable device as claimed in claim 9, the device capable to determine that the flash unit is switched “ON” .
The camera equipped portable device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the camera in the device is configured to photograph an image during day light when the flash unit is “OFF” .