Distance Measuring Device

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a distance measuring device for a camera of the type arranged to project a light from a light projecting element on an object to be photographed and to measure a distance to the object by detecting with a light sensitive element the light as it is reflected by and coming from the object.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Generally, the conventional distance measuring systems of the type arranged to measure a distance to an object to be photographed by projecting a light from a light projecting element onto the object have been incapable of discerning the light projected on and reflected by the object from the light of the object when the object happens to be of a high degree of brightness. Accordingly, in such a case, the camera either has become incapable of performing a photographing operation or has performed out-of-focus photographing. The conventional solutions of this problem have included a method of using a light projecting LED (light emitting diode) of high output and another method of shortening the measurable range of distance to ensure that the light projected from the light projecting element can be received in sufficient intensity after it is reflected by the object. However, use of an LED of high output not only result in a higher cost but also result in increased power consumption. Particularly, in the case of cameras which are generally required to be in a compact size, the capacity of a battery usable for them is limited. The first solution, therefore, have caused a great inconvenience. Meanwhile, the other solution of shortening the measurable range of distance is hardly compatible with the purposes and usages of cameras.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a distance measuring device for a camera which is capable of eliminating the shortcomings of the prior art by utilizing the deep depth of field that is obtainable from the use of a small aperture of the photo-taking lens in photographing an object of high brightness. More specifically stated, in accordance with the invention, in cases where the object to be photographed is of high brightness, the phototaking lens is brought into a predetermined position in which the object is placed within the above stated deep depth of field, so that the high brightness object can be photographed even with a low output light projecting element or even at a low voltage or without shortening the measurable range of distance.

The above and further objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing the circuit arrangement of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the wave forms of outputs of the essential parts of the circuit arrangement shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of a magnet and a lens to be operated by the circuit arrangement shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1 which shows a preferred embodiment of the invention in a circuit diagram, the embodiment includes a light receiving or sensitive element SPC; a light projecting element LED; operational amplifiers OP1-OP4; an oscillator OSC; a frequency dividing-distributing circuit DV; a light projecting element driving circuit DR; a peak detecting circuit PD; comparators COMP1 and COMP2; magnets Mg1 and Mg2 which bring a photo-taking lens arranged to be moved from an in-focus position on a short distance side to an in-focus position on a long distance side to a stop; a battery BAT; a switch SW1 which closes to give potentials VB and Vcc and to have the power source voltage impressed on the circuit; a reference voltage producing circuit RV arranged to produce reference voltage Vr1 and Vr2, the reference voltage Vr2 being arranged to be higher than the other voltage Vr1; and analog switches AN1 and AN2. When pulses .0.1 and .0.2 such as the pulses shown in FIG. 2 are impressed from the frequency dividing-distributing circuit DV on these analog switches, they become conductive at the timing of a high level.

In cases where the brightness of the object is low, clock pulses fc which are produced from the oscillator OSC is frequency divided and distributed to give sampling pulses .0.1 and .0.2 through the frequency dividing-distributing circuit DV. Then, when the pulses are impressed through the light projecting element driving circuit DR on the light projecting element LED as represented by LED voltage in FIG. 2, a flickering pulse light is projected from the light projecting element LED onto the object. The projected light is reflected by the object. When the reflection light is received at the light sensitive element SPC, the reflected light is current-to-voltage converted by the operational amplifier OP1 which is provided with a feedback resistor RF. Through this process, there appears pulses which are similar to the light projecting element LED driving pulses as represented by "OP1 output" shown in FIG. 2. The output of the operational amplifier OP1 is supplied through a high-pass filter formed a capacitor C1 and a resistor R1 to the operational amplifier OP2 to be amplified there. The output of the operational amplifier OP2 is inverted at the operational amplifier OP3 and is sampled by the analog switch AN1 while the light projecting element LED is alight. Meanwhile, the output of the operational amplifier OP2 is directly sampled by the analog switch AN2 while the light projecting element LED is extinct. The outputs of the analog switches AN1 and AN2 are added up at the operational amplifier OP4. While they are being thus added up the sampling frequency component is removed through an integration circuit formed by a capacitor C2 and a resistor R2. A signal thus obtained is further processed through another integration circuit formed by a capacitor C3 and a resistor R3 to obtain a signal which does not have much noise. In this instance, if there is any reflection light from the object, the output LPO of the integration circuit C3-R3 which is an output of synchronous detection of the reflection light has a higher voltage than the reference voltage Vr1. If there is no reflection light, the voltage of the synchronous detection output LPO is equal to the reference voltage Vr1. The comparator COMP1 compares the synchronous detection output CPO with the reference voltage Vr2 which is set at a higher level than the reference voltage Vr1 in consideration of noises. When the level of the synchronous detection output LPO comes to exceed the reference voltage Vr2, the peak detection circuit DP is actuated by the output of the comparator COMP1. The output of the peak detection circuit DP is normally at a high level to prevent a power supply to the magnet Mg1. However, when the output of the light sensitive element SPC reaches a peak, the level of the output of the peak detection circuit becomes low to allow a power supply to the magnet Mg1. Then, a normal automatic focal point adjusting action takes place and the position of the photo-taking lens is controlled. More specifically, the photo-taking lens 1 is moved in the direction of arrow, as shown in FIG. 3, by an urging force of a spring 2 from an in-focus position on the short distance side to an in-focus position on the long distance side. Then, in association with the movement of the photo-taking lens 1, the light projecting element LED performs beam scanning (or beam sweeping) in a known manner. During the process of beam scanning, the output of the peak detection circuit PD changes to a low level when the light sensitive element SPC receives the reflection of the light projected by the light projecting element LED to the highest degree thus resulting in a peak of the synchronous detection output LPO. With the level of the output of the peak detection circuit PD becoming low, a power supply is effected to the magnet Mg1. Then, the exciting force of the magnet Mg1 causes a locking level 5 which is urged in the counterclockwise direction by a spring 4 to rotate clockwise. A locking lever 5 then engages a ratchet 6 which is arranged into one unified body with the photo-taking lens 1 to bring the lens 1 to a stop at an in-focus position. The automatic focusing operation is accomplished in this manner.

Since the reference voltage Vr3 is lower than the reference voltage Vr1, the output of the comparator COMP2 remains at a high level to prevent the magnet Mg2 from operating.

In cases where the brightness of the object to be photographed is very high, the output of the operational amplifier is saturated. The saturation may be prevented by arranging the feedback resistor RF to be of a smaller value. However, if this resistance value is set at an excessively small value, the signal light which is projected on the object and comes back after it is reflected by the object also become of a smaller value. The signal light then would necessitate arrangement to increase the gain of the operational amplifier OP2. This arrangement then would result in a larger noise component of the output of the operational amplifier OP1. This would results in a distance measurement error because of an insufficient S/N ratio. Therfore, the resistance value of the resistor RF must be set at a value which does not bring about an adverse effect during normal distance measurement. The battery BAT has an internal resistance r. When the light projecting element LED flickers, the potential VB varies to an opposite phase in synchronism with the LED voltage as shown in FIG. 2. Use of the simple low-pass filter consisting of the capacitor C4 and the resistor R4 for the purpose of moderating this variation makes the power source voltage Vcc into a triangular wave form as shown in FIG. 2. Then, with this voltage Vcc impressed on the operational amplifier OP1, when a large current is caused by a high brightness object to flow to the light sensitive element SPC, the operational amplifier OP1 is rendered inoperative as operational amplifier because no feedback takes place for the output of the amplifier OP1 though it is saturated. Therefore, the power source voltage Vcc appears in the output of the amplifier OP1 with the varied state thereof unchanged. Then, the voltage Vcc is amplified through the operational amplifier OP2 and is subjected to sampling with the sampling pulses .0.1 and .0.2 of the phase as shown in FIG. 2. In this instance, the sampling is done on the lower side of the power source voltage Vcc when the light projecting element LED is alight and on the upper side thereof when the element LED is extinct. Therefore, the synchronous detection output LPO thus obtained is opposite to the signal light obtained when the object is of ordinary brightness. In other words, the voltage of the synchronous detection output LPO is lower than the reference voltage Vr1. Then, the peak detection circuit PD does not operate and the magnet Mg1 also remain inoperative. Whereas, if the reference voltage Vr3 is arranged to be higher than the synchronous detection output LPO obtained with the operational amplifier OP1 saturated, the output of the comparator COMP2 becomes a low level to allow a power supply to the magnet Mg2. Then, the locking lever 8 which is urged clockwise by the spring 7 as shown in FIG. 3 is pulled in the counterclockwise direction by the magnet Mg2. The locking lever then sets the photo-taking lens 1 in a predetermined position by coming to engage a protrudent part 9a of a lens stopping lever 9. It goes without saying that this predetermined lens position is a position in which the photo-taking distance is covered by the depth of field derived from a stopped-down aperture value of the photo-taking lens according to the high brightness of the object to be photographed.

Further, in cases where the photo-taking lens intrinsically has a deep depth of field, the number of zones in which the lens to be stopped may be lessened. In such a case, the circuit portion which is encircled with a broken line can be omitted and the lens can be set in a zone on the longest distance side.

In accordance with the invention, as described in detail in the foregoing, the problem that arises from the distance measurement of the type arranged to be accomplished by detecting the reflection of a projected light concerning how to discern the reflection from a natural light can be solved by ensuring accurate measurement for a high brightness object with the use of an inexpensive LED and the accurate measurement can be carried out covering a wide range from a short distance to a long distance.