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Systems and methods for changing power states of a remote device

1. actuators like backlight control button 236 whereas others have on switches In most current camera bodies each type of actuator is used in conjunction with a built in timer used to control when the camera body turns the backlighting off In addition some current camera body models make the camera body backlighting signaling available at the hotshoe of the camera body whereas others do not As will be seen below camera body 204 of FIG 2 is of the type that makes camera body backlight signaling available at hotshoe 220 Camera body 204 is also configured like many conventional camera bodies to make camera body wake and sleep and autofocus assist signals available at hotshoe 220 Further details of wake AFA and B L modes of controller are described below in greater detail after a description of multifunction lighting system 208 and modeling lighting device 212 In this example multifunction lighting system 208 includes a dual function lighting head 244 that provides both image acquisition strobe light from a flash source 248 suchas a xenon flash tube and continuous light from a continuous light source 252 such as a tungsten bulb Lighting head 244 is powered by a suitable generator pack 256 A similar mul tifunctional lighting system is available from Profoto Stock holm Sweden among other photographic lighting manufac turers Generator pack 256 includes a built in wireless communications device 260 and an onboard microprocessor
2. 6 430 369 B2 8 2002 Lee et al 2012 0194699 AI 8 2012 Kouno 6 453 154 BI 9 2002 Haber et al 2012 0207459 AI 8 2012 Clark 6 524 237 2 2003 McGowan 2012 0207460 AI 8 2012 Clark 6 618 557 B1 9 2003 Ziemkowski 0d Al 6 625 399 9 2003 Davis 2013 0089313 Al 4 2013 Clar 6 683 654 Bl 1 2004 Haijima 2013 0094845 Al 4 2013 Clark 6 718 135 B2 4 2004 Kawasaki et al 2013 0100340 A1 4 2013 Clark 6 731 952 B2 5 2004 Schaeffer et al 6 748 165 B2 6 2004 Ogasawara FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 6 778 764 B2 8 2004 Barghini et al 6 728386 BZ 13 2004 Hugnids CN 2010 106007364 2 2012 0 41067 Be 3 2005 Muramatsu CN 2010 10600736 4 12 2012 7 016 603 B2 3 2006 Clark 0984320 3 2000 7 035 534 B2 4 2006 Shih et al EP 07760263 9 1 2011 7 133 607 11 2006 Clark EP 07760263 9 7 2011 7 184 658 B2 2 2007 Squillace EP 8756458 9 7 2011 7362965 B2 4 2008 Clark 11177995 5 12 2011 7 437 063 B2 10 2008 Clark EP 11177995 5 7 2012 7 446 800 2 11 2008 Holmes EP 10741797 8 2012 7 463 304 B2 12 2008 Murray EP 11177995 5 8 2012 US 8 571 401 B2 Page3 56 References Cited FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS EP 11177997 1 12 2012 JP 56 143422 11 1981 JP 59 064821 4 1984 59 170822 9 1984 63 018874 1 1988 05 093948 4 1993 2002 244193 8 2002 2002 318413 10 2002 2003 172970 6 2003 2003 215672 7 2003 2003 325451 11 2003 2004 072230 3 2004 2006 149935 6 2006 2007 067870 3 2007 2010 510491
3. Another characteristic of this example is that backlight control mode is of a non delay type That is the camera body backlighting stays on until a user turns it off here using backlighting control button 236 Consequently when a user activates camera body backlight control button 236 to turn camera body backlighting on controller 216 is configured to cause a first illumination output change in modeling lighting device 212 here from off on In this example the photog rapher wants modeling lighting device 212 to be on when the backlighting of camera body 204 is on However there may be other situations when the photographer might want mod eling lighting device 212 to be off when backlighting of camera body 204 is on These differing options are described in more detail below Then when the user activates backlight control button 236 again to toggle the camera body backlight ing off controller 216 is configured to cause a second illumi 20 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 nation output change in modeling lighting device 212 here from on to off Further details of this control scheme are provided below Inthe current embodiment controller 216 is not though it could be part of a hotshoe mountable flash device that is fully compatible with camera body 204 1 is able to use any signaling camera body 204 makes available via hotshoe 220 although such a flash device not shown or other flash or non flash device may
4. FIG 4 In one example the inac tivity delay value is set to 10 minutes though many other values may be used In conjunction with the inactivity delay value wireless communications device 260 may also be programmed with a inactivity illumination output value setting that the wireless communications device can load into generator pack 256 if the wireless communications device s timer times out on the inactivity delay value for example if it never receives a second IOC signal in the normal course of method 500 Again this can happen in this example if camera body 204 never generates a sleep signal and or controller 216 never transmits a second signal among other events The inac tivity illumination output value setting may be the same as or different from either or both of the illumination output value settings in fields 436B 440B of GUI 412 At step 540 if controller 216 detects or knows that Back light B L mode 428 FIG 4 is not enabled method 500 simply loops back to step 510 However if Backlight mode 428 is enabled at step 575 controller 216 determines whether or not a camera body B L signal e g either an on or off signal has occurred If not method 500 simply loops back to step 510 However if controller 216 detects a camera body B L signal at step 575 it proceeds to step 580 to determine whether or not it has already sent a first IOC signal at step 585 to modeling lighting device 212 FIG 2 in this c
5. in any of a variety of ways in a manner similar to controller 216 discussed above relative to FIGS 2 8 These ways include a microprocessor and software firmware combina tion a microprocessor software and hard circuitry combina tion and hard circuitry alone Those skilled in the art will readily understand how to implement any ofthese ways when confronted with particular camera body signaling and other design parameters The signals generated by controlling means will have any ofa variety of configurations depending on the robustness of the signaling the relevant ones of con trolled devices 912 916 920 924 are designed to handle Such signaling ranges for example from a simple toggling signal to signals that include power state settings for the first and second power state change delay settings and device identification codes Transmitting means 936 transmits the signal s generated by controlling means 932 via wireless communications links 940 to corresponding respective ones of controlled devices 912 1 N 916 1 N 920 1 N 924 1 N via corresponding respective receiving means 944 1 N 948 1 N 952 1 N 956 1 N Transmitting and receiving means 936 944 1 N 948 1 N 952 1 N 956 1 N can utilize any suitable communications mode such as wire less RF communications in which case wireless communi cations links 940 will be wireless RF links wireless optical infrared IR visible commu
6. 8 2012 KR 10 0728117 6 2007 WO 9638925 Al 12 1996 WO PCT US03 037271 5 2004 WO 2004049057 A1 6 2004 WO 2007012041 A2 1 2007 WO 2007118201 A2 10 2007 WO PCT US2007 066162 11 2007 WO PCT US2006 028229 2 2008 WO PCT US2008 065137 9 2008 WO PCT US2008 065139 9 2008 WO 2008150902 Al 12 2008 WO 2008150904 Al 12 2008 WO PCT US2010 024088 7 2010 WO 2010093914 AI 8 2010 WO 2010093927 Al 8 2010 WO 2010093994 AI 8 2010 WO PCT US2010 024108 9 2010 WO PCT US2010 024195 9 2010 WO PCT US2011 044008 11 2011 WO 2012009537 Al 1 2012 WO PCT US2012 025915 6 2012 WO 2012161772 Al 11 2012 OTHER PUBLICATIONS U S Appl No 12 705 052 Mar 27 2012 Office Action 8 326 141 U S Appl No 12 705 052 Jun 27 2012 Response to Office Action 8 326 141 S Appl No 12 705 052 Sep 5 2012 Notice of Allowance 326 141 S Appl No 12 705 096 Mar 12 2012 Office Action 8 326 136 S Appl No 12 705 096 Jun 12 2012 Response to Office Action 326 136 S Appl No 12 705 096 Aug 8 2012 Notice of Allowance 326 136 S Appl No 12 705 164 Mar 29 2012 Office Action S Appl No 12 705 164 Jun 29 2012 Response to Office Action S Appl No 12 405 164 Sep 7 2012 Office Action S Appl No 12 705 164 Nov 29 2012 RCE S Appl No 13 692 515 filed Dec 3 2012 S Appl No 13 692 550 filed Dec 3 2012 S Appl No 12 705 164 filed Feb 12 2010 ikon D80 User s Manual see Modeling Flash p 9
7. S Appl No 10 306 759 Dec 18 2003 Response to Office Action 7 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Dec 24 2003 Examiner Interview Sum mary 7 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Mar 27 2004 Final Office Action 7 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Apr 15 2005 Examiner Interview Sum mary 7 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Apr 20 2004 Response to Final Office Action 7 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Aug 24 2004 Office Action 7 016 603 S Appl No 10 306 759 Feb 18 2005 Request for Continued xamination 7 016 603 S Appl No 10 306 759 Mar 29 2005 Office Action 7 016 603 S Appl No 10 306 759 Apr 14 2005 Response to Office Action 016 603 S Appl No 10 306 759 Jun 29 2005 Final Office Action 016 603 S Appl No 10 306 759 Aug 25 2005 Response to Final Office ction 7 016 603 S Appl No 10 306 759 Sep 16 2005 Notice of Allowance 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Oct 18 2005 312 Amendment 7 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Dec 20 2005 Response to 312 Amend ment 7 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Jan 4 2006 Response to 312 Amend ment 7 016 603 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Nov 18 2006 Certificate of Correction 7 016 603 S Appl No 11 488 491 Oct 16 2007 Office Action S Appl No 11 490 322 Apr 20 2010 Office Action 7 880 761 S Appl No 11 490 322 Jul 12 2010 Response
8. example via built in wireless communications device 260 an external port 264 or a built in user interface 268 the onboard microprocessor changes the output illumination level of continuous light source 252 to the setting provided in that instruction set If a delay value is not also provided with the instruction set continuous light source 252 will stay at the new setting until the microprocessor receives another power state instruction such as another illumination output setting or a power off instruction However when the onboard microprocessor of generator pack 256 receives an instruction set containing first and second power level set tings and a delay setting the built in microprocessor first changes the illumination output of continuous light source 252 to the first power level setting holds the illumination output for the delay setting and then changes the illumination output to the second power level setting The power level setting may be expressed in any convenient form such as percentage of maximum output power absolute input power or absolute output power among others The delay setting may also be expressed as any convenient value such as num ber of seconds minutes or other predefined periods In this example modeling lighting device 212 is a standa lone modeling lighting device that utilizes a continuous light source on hidden side of device 212 but such as a tungsten bulb a light emitting diode LED or an arr
9. it can implement the desired remote device control functionality for example any one or more of the function alities described herein In addition to the foregoing examples FIG 12 illustrates the use of a camera body event such as pre flash request any other early indication of impending image capture to synchronize one or more in scene events with image capture so that the in scene event s occur at precisely the right time to be captured in an image Examples of such in scene events include but are not limited to the detonating of an explosive charge the firing of a bullet the turning off of a modeling light the activating of a fuel injector spray the dropping of a water droplet among many others A benefit of such func tionality can include the use of faster shutter speeds without concern for missing an in scene event An example of this remote device synchronization func tionality is described in connection with FIG 12 which is an example timing diagram 1200 showing the timing of various signals events and time delay This example is based on a camera body that generates a digital camera body status communications signal such as signal 1100 of FIG 11 that contains periodic data bursts that communicate among other things status data on the states of various signals and events occurring within the camera body In FIG 12 this camera body status communications signal is denoted hotshoe data signal 1204 since it i
10. mode of controller 216 uses camera body autofocus assist signal generated by camera body 204 to control scene illumination output levels of the modeling lighting of multifunction lighting system 208 In this example camera body 204 is configured to generate an autofocus assist signal in two ways a first in response to a user pressing an autofocus button 228 located on the cam era body within ready reach of a photographer s thumb and a second in response to the camera body via autofocus cir cuitry not shown determining that a lens 232 attached to the camera body needs to be actuated to bring the scene into focus The generation of camera body autofocus assist signals in both of these manners is well known in the art such that further description is not necessary herein for those skilled in the art to implement the broad concepts disclosed herein In this example backlight B L mode of controller 216 uses a camera body 204 backlighting control signal generated by camera body to control scene illumination output levels of modeling lighting device 212 In this case camera body 204 includes a backlighting control button 236 that a user uses to turn backlighting of one or more displays such as LCD display panel 240 on the camera body on and off as desired It is noted that differing camera body models have differing ways of handling backlighting functionality and signaling For example some current camera body models have on
11. more remote devices in a manner that synchro nizes a remote device to image capture DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings FIG 1 illustrates a method 100 of changing power states of a remote device using one or more camera body controls and a preset delay As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art after reading this entire disclosure a control method containing broad concepts disclosed herein such as method 100 is useful for a number of purposes including allowing a photographer to use mod eling lighting to check for unwanted and or wanted lighting effects and levels that will appear in images captured using flash photography allowing a photographer to control opera tion of remote special effects allowing a photographer to an 5 20 30 40 45 50 55 4 control ambient and in scene lighting allowing a photogra pher to control remotely controllable devices appearing in a photographic scene and any combination thereof all without having to remove an eye from the camera s viewfinder or live view display Such a control method also allows for use of modeling lighting to provide light for assisting a camera in carrying out its autofocus functionality Method 100 typically begins at step 105 by detecting one or more camera body signals As used herein and in the appended claims the term camera body signal and like terms mean a signal generated either internally or externally rela
12. not shown responsive to a relatively robust set of user settable lighting control parameters including modeling lighting control parameters Parameters for operating multi function lighting system 208 that a user is able to set control using wireless communications device 260 include illumina tion output level settings In this example wireless commu nications device 260 implements a pair of illumination level change delay settings The use of these parameters and set tings is described below in greater detail 35 40 45 50 65 8 Wireless communications device 260 is in wireless RF communication with controller 216 so as to receive one or more instructions sets for controlling the operation of mul tifunction lighting system 208 In this connection wireless communications device 260 includes an RF receiver not shown In other embodiments wireless communications device 260 may also include an RF transmitter or alterna tively to separate RF receiver and transmitter an RF trans ceiver It is noted that in yet other embodiments wireless communications may be implemented using another commu nication technique such as visible light communication e g using a strobe attached to controller 216 and infrared communication among others When an instruction of instruction set depending on the communication protocol containing a power level setting is received by the built in microprocessor of generator pack 256 for
13. response to expiration of the preset delay BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For the purpose of illustrating the invention the drawings show aspects of one or more embodiments of the invention US 8 571 401 B2 3 However it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings wherein FIG 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of changing power states of a remote device using one or more camera body controls and a preset delay FIG 2 is a diagram of a photographic system that includes a camera a wireless controller a remote multifunctional lighting system incorporating a modeling lighting source and a special effects fan wherein the system is configured to perform steps of the method of FIG 1 FIG 3 is a high level diagram of the wireless controller of FIG 2 FIG 4 is a diagram illustrating a computer based environ ment for configuring a wireless controller such as the exter nal wireless controller of FIGS 2 and 3 FIGS 5A B together contain a flow diagram illustrating a method of controlling the scene illumination output of mod eling lighting using a controller having a wake mode an autofocus assist mode and a backlight mode such as the controller of FIGS 2 and 3 FIG 6 is an example timing diagram illustrating function ing ofthe autofocus assist mode of a wireless controller such as the controller of FIGS 2 and 3 using
14. second power level signal along with the preset delay in response to said detecting of the at least one second camera body signal 17 system for changing power states ofa remote lighting device using a camera body comprising a means for detecting at least one first camera body signal that is generated as a function of a user actuation of at least one camera body control ameans for generating a first power level signal in response to said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal the first power level signal including data repre senting a first power output level for the remote lighting device a means for wirelessly transmitting the first power level signal so as to cause the remote lighting device to oper ate at the first power output level a means for implementing a preset delay and a means for causing the remote lighting device to change from the first power output level to a second non zero power output level different from the first power output level in response to expiration of the preset delay 18 system according to claim 17 wherein said means for detecting ofthe at least one first camera body signal includes a means for detecting a camera body wake signal and said US 8 571 401 B2 27 means for generating of the first power level signal includes means for generating the first power level signal in response to said detecting of the camera body wake signal 19 A system according to claim 18
15. the pins denoted the first pin and outputs a camera body auto focus assist signal via the same first pin Also in this example the camera body wakeup signal is characterized by a first voltage change here from a low level to an intermediate level the camera body sleep signal is characterized by a second voltage change here from the intermediate level to the low level and camera body autofocus assist signal is identified by a third voltage change here from the intermediate level to a high level This example is discussed further below in con nection with FIGS 6 and 7 Further in this example the camera body backlight control signal appears on a second pin different from the first pin and is identified by an increase in voltage from a low voltageto a higher voltage that is held high whilethe backlighting is to beon Itis noted that some current camera bodies such as EOS series SLRs DSLRs available from Canon Inc Tokyo Japan do not provide backlight signals externally through a hotshoe whereas other current camera bodies such SLRs DLSRs available from Nikon Corporation Tokyo Japan provide backlight on off informa tion via status bit in a digital communications bit cluster for example to allow the camera body backlighting control sig nal to control backlighting on a flash unit mounted to the hotshoe Other camera bodies can have different backlighting signaling arrangements such as the one illustrated in FIGS 6 and 7
16. the control settings illustrated on the screen ofthe graphical user interface of FIG 4 FIG 7 is an example timing diagram illustrating function ing of the wakeup mode ofa controller such as the controller of FIGS 2 and 3 using the control settings illustrated on the screen of the graphical user interface of FIG 4 FIG 8 is a diagram illustrating circuitry and corresponding signaling suitable for use in the camera body interface of a controller such as the controller of FIGS 2 and 3 FIG 9 is a high level diagram illustrating a flexible control system for controlling a host of devices including modeling lighting devices special effects devices non modeling con tinuous lighting devices and in scene non lighting devices using one or more camera body controls of a camera body and FIG 10 is an elevational view of a photography studio containing a photographic system that includes a camera ambient lighting devices and an in scene lighting device wherein the system is configured to allow a photographer to control operation ofthe ambient lighting devices and in scene lighting device using the body of the camera FIG 11 is a diagram illustrating a digital camera body status communication signal containing autofocus assist and backlight information that a controller of the present disclo sure can use to control one or more modeling lighting device s and FIG 12 is an example timing diagram illustrating the con trol of one or
17. tuses 208 212 of FIG 2 special effects devices 916 916 1 N such as a fan a snow shaker a misting device a fogger a rain maker a sprayer etc non modeling continu ous lighting devices 920 920 1 N such as ambient light ing e g general studio room lighting in scene lighting e g electric lamps etc and in scene non lighting devices 924 924 1 N such as a motorized train set magnetic actuator etc As those skilled in the art will appreciate the general steps illustrated in method 100 of FIG 1 can be used to control any one or more of controlled devices 912 916 920 924 singly or in various combinations with one another as described in more detail below To enable the remote control functionality system 900 includes a remote device controller 928 that issues one or more appropriate power state control signals to one or more of 0 jai 5 25 35 40 45 20 controlled devices 912 916 920 924 To accomplish this remote device controller 928 includes a controlling means 932 and a transmitting means 936 Controlling means 932 detects the one or more camera body signals designated for controlling the one or more controlled devices 912 916 920 924 and in response thereto generates the appropriate signal s and any corresponding information such as device identifier s for identifying the particular device s for receiv ing the signal s Controlling means 932 can be implemented
18. understand and appreciate the variety of ways that a controller of the present disclose can be pro grammed with desired control parameter values if the con troller is not preset with the desired values or is not program mable As mentioned above in the present example controller 216 is configured to have control functionality based on cam era body wake signals Wake mode 420 camera body autofocus assist signals Assist mode 424 and camera body backlight controls signals Backlight mode 428 Cor respondingly GUI 412 provides three primary selection con trols here a common GUI type checkboxes 432A C corre sponding respectively to the three modes 420 424 428 As will be seen below a user can select any one any two or all three of these modes 420 424 428 as desired If a user selects checkbox 432A indicating Wake mode 420 the wake mode parameter selection input fields 436A C become active In this example Wake mode selection fields 436 are for inputting three desired values respectively 1 a first illumination output level in this example the illumina tion output level to which to change the modeling lighting of multifunctional lighting system 208 FIG 2 as a function of controller 216 detecting a camera body wake signal 2 a second illumination output level here the illumination output level to which to change the modeling lighting of the multi functional lighting system from the first illum
19. wherein the camera body has ahotshoe and said means for detecting of the camera body wake signal includes a means for detecting the camera body wake signal via the hotshoe 20 system according to claim 17 wherein said means for detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes a means for detecting a camera body autofocus assist signal and said means for generating of the first power level signal includes a means for generating the first power level signal in response to said detecting of the camera body autofocus assist signal 21 A system according to claim 20 wherein the camera body has ahotshoe and said means for detecting ofthe camera body autofocus assist signal includes a means for detecting the camera body autofocus assist signal via the hotshoe 22 system according to claim 17 wherein said means for detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes a means for detecting at least one camera body signal that is generated by the camera body in response to a partial pressing of a shutter release control 23 A system according to claim 22 wherein said means for detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes a means for detecting a camera body wake signal 24 A system according to claim 22 wherein said means for detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes a means for detecting a camera body autofocus assist signal 25 A system according to claim 17 wherein sa
20. 224 of the camera body or in response to the user pressing a dedicated AFA button 228 of the camera body When wireless controller 216 first detects the leading edge 604A of first AFA signal 604 in this example it generates and transmits a modeling light instruc tion set containing the first power change level the second power change level and the delay values set for example via GUI 412 of FIG 4 Once generator pack 256 receives this instruction set as represented by modeling light illumina tion output curve 612 it changes the output level of the mod eling light to the first power change level here 8096 from whatever level the modeling light was set to prior to receiving the instruction set here 096 and starts a delay timer not shown internal to the modeling light using the preset delay value here 5 seconds If controller 216 does not detect another AFA signal in about 5 seconds from detecting first AFA signal 604 i e in about the time ofthe delay value the built in timer of wireless communications device 260 will time out and this wireless device will initiate via generator pack 256 the second power level change of the modeling light to the preset level here 60 However in the case illustrated in FIG 6 within about 2 seconds of detecting first AFA signal 604 controller 216 detects second AFA signal 608 which in this example causes the controller to send the same instruction set it sent in response to the de
21. 7 164 875 U S Appl No 13 438 500 Sep 14 2012 Responseto Office Action US Appl No 12 843 254 Jul 27 2010 Preliminary Remarks US Appl No 13 438 500 14 2012 Terminal Disclaimers 8 121 468 US Appl 11 697 241 Nov 8 2007 Office Action 7 437 063 U S Appl No 12 843 254 Aug 25 2011 Office Action 8 121 468 U S Appl No 11 697 241 Mar 10 2008 Response to Office U S Appl 12 843 254 Aug 25 2011 Response to Office Action 7 437 063 Action 8 121 468 U S Appl No 11 697 241 Mar 24 2008 Examiner Interview Sum U S Appl No 12 843 254 Aug 25 2011 Terminal Disclaimer May 7 437 063 8 121 468 U S Appl No 11 697 241 Jun 9 2008 Notice of Allowance US Appl No 12 843 254 Nov 28 2011 Notice of Allowance 7 437 063 8 121 468 U S Appl 12 129 447 Apr 12 2010 Notice of Allowance U S Appl 13 399 333 Jun 14 2012 Office Action 351 744 7 775 575 U S Appl 13 399 333 Sep 14 2012 Response to Office Action No 12 129 447 Apr 12 2010 Examiner Amendment 8 351 744 775 575 U S Appl No 13 399 333 Sep 14 2012 Terminal Disclaimers Pme No 12 861 445 Sep 30 2010 Notice of Allowance 8 351 744 885 533 U S Appl No 13 399 333 Sep 28 2012 Notice of Allowance DM No 13 021 951 Nov 25 2011 Notice of Allowance 8 351 744 U S Appl No 10 306 759 Aug 29 2003 Office Action 7 016 603 U
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24. 8 published on ug 11 2006 S Appl No 13 735 325 Mar 15 2013 Office Action S Appl No 13 735 325 Mar 21 2013 Response to Office Action w Terminal Disclaimers U S Appl 13 708 326 Mar 26 2013 Notice of Allowance U S Appl No 13 207 706 Mar 26 2013 Response to Office Action U S Appl No 13 016 345 Apr 26 2013 Restriction Requirement U S Appl No 13 181 046 Apr 29 2013 Responseto Office Action Affadavit of James E Clark FlashWizard II Synchronizer signed Mar 20 2008 previously submitted in U S Appl No 11 697 241 Analog Devices Technical Data Sheet for ADF7020 1 Transceiver IC Analog Devices Inc 2005 pp 1 44 ASH Transceiver Impedance Matching Document Created on Dec 10 2001 pp 1 to 10 http www rfm com products apnotes aten namatch pdf last viewed on Dec 15 2005 Canon EOS 40D Usuer s Manual about Sep 2007 Canon Corpora tion Declaration of James E Clark filed on Feb 18 2005 in U S Appl No 10 306 759 Ken Rockwell How to Use Nikon Strobes Wirelessly for Free Dec 17 2005 http web archive org web 20051217091704 http www kenrockwell com nikon ittlslave htm last viewed at Internet archive on Apr 1 2010 Nikon D2x Sep 2004 pp 1 to 12 Nikon Corporation Nikon WT 1 Transmitter User s Manual around Dec 2003 Nikon Corporation Nikon WT 2 Article Part 1 Nikon Corporation http niko
25. G 5B U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 7 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 600 5 DELAY w 9 DELAY PPS H t t t 1 t t i i 72 1 794 5 S AFA DELAY MEE 1 28 DELAY i i ZEE 708 100 MEE i LIGHT go 3 OUTPUT gp _ MAX 49 t t AN 4244567 8 8 OH 0 6 M W TIME 5 FIG 7 U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 8 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 0 5V REF 832 TIME FIG 8 U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 9 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 900 TN Alt Device Alt Device io Extent 0640 oot TROMI Receiving Receiving Samrat Sona cae cof MES HOD Means 94800 Pent 9 Modeling Lighting Devices 95 Effects Devices 916 2 erri EE gt 222 Ni AC i sss ous eem HORE PR Receiving Device A es vice 916 1 9 _ Means 944 1 N Camera 7 Device x 21 Wireless Comm i Body Extent 91600 Tesi 9486 Link 940 7777 96 2 s NS s S NX f 77777777 Wireless Comm 7 MITIS i ue Link940 Camera Body 3 ike Control s 904 ft Alt Camera e Body Extent 980 Transmitting Means 936 NO Controlling Means 932 ADS RD y Sana pec EN ita 3 Nous Wirele
26. In particular and as described below in more detail Wake mode 420 is used to control both fan 1008 and post lamp 1012 and Backlight mode 428 is used to control studio lighting devices 1004 Studio 1000 contains a scene 1016 to be photographed using a camera body 1020 In this example scene 1016 includes post lamp 1012 a table 1024 a bowl 1028 and a lit candle 1032 resting on the table Scene 1016 is to be a very dimly lit scene with the only light to be present when images are being captured by camera body 1020 during the image acquisition phase being low levels of light from post light 1012 and from lit candle 1032 Light levels during image acquisition are to be so low that any ambient lighting other than light from post light 1012 and lit candle 1032 must be extinguished Also during image capture fan 1008 is used to create a gentle breeze so as to cause lit candle 1032 to flicker slightly In this example the remote device controller is built into camera body 1020 and includes an RF transmitter not shown but evidenced by antenna 1036 on the camera body As mentioned both fan 1008 and post light 1012 are being con trolled using Wake mode 420 FIG 4 Here a single power controller 1040 which includes a built in RF receiver not shown but evidenced by antenna 1044 is used to control both fan 1008 and post light 1012 by varying the electrical 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 22 power provided to t
27. No 12 250 914 filed Oct 14 2008 7 702 228 Appl No 12 762 811 filed Apr 19 2010 7 970 267 Appl No 13 169 413 filed Jun 27 2011 8 180 210 Appl No 13 438 500 filed Apr 3 2012 Appl No 11 697 241 filed Apr 5 2007 7 437 063 Appl No 12 129 447 filed May 29 2008 7 775 575 Appl No 12 861 445 filed Aug 23 2010 7 885 533 Appl No 13 021 951 filed Feb 7 2011 8 331 776 Appl No 13 253 596 filed Oct 5 2011 8 326 140 Appl No 13 708 326 filed Dec 7 2012 Appl No 12 129 402 filed May 29 2008 7 783 188 Appl No 13 201 182 filed Aug 11 2011 Appl No 13 201 185 filed Aug 11 2011 Appl No 13 208 686 filed Aug 12 2011 Appl No 13 208 706 filed Aug 12 2011 Appl No 13 201 281 filed Aug 12 2011 Appl No 13 401 175 filed Feb 21 2012 Appl No 13 183 046 filed Jul 14 2011 lt ta t t tA ta Q t tA tA tA tn tA tA tn Qn tn tA tn tn tn tA tA tn tn tn tn tn tn tn ln cited by examiner U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 1 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 100 105 T d _ GENERATE A FIRST POWER STATE CHANGE SIGNAL IN RESPONSE TO 110 __ THE DETECTED SIGNAL S TRANSMIT THE FIRST POWER STATE CONTROL SIGNAL SO AS TO CAUSE ONE OR MORE DEVICES TO OPERATE AT A FIRST POWER STATE 7 IMPLEMENTING T PRESET DELAY CAUSE THE A
28. T LEAST ONE REMOTE DEVICE TO CHANGE FROM THE FIRST POWER STATE TO A SECOND POWER STATE Z Lis 125 d FIG 1 U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 2 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 3 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 MICROPROCESSOR PORT 316 an ue MEMORY 313 320 CAMERA BODY TRANSMITTER INTERFACE 308 324 FIG 3 U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 4 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 416 WD 420 Controlled Device Control Settings 416A 4358 tstchange level 65 2nd change level 158 4408 c Dey seconds 4408 y AF Assist level 100 2nd change level 25 yo Delay 2 seconds VICA Backtight NS ABA 4 444 9 Backlight Device ON 448 Backlight ON Device of U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 5 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 500 IGENERATE AND TRANSMIT IOG SIGNAL WITH FIRST SET ILLUMINATION VALUE _ IMPLEMENT SET DEL A Y CAUSE MODELING LIGHT TO CHANGE TO SECOND SET ILLUMINATION VALUE _ GENERATE AND TRANSMIT POWER CHANGE SIGNAL WITH SECOND SET POWER VALUE POWER CHANGE SIGNAL WITH FIRST SET POWER VALUE FIG 5A U S Patent Oct 29 2013 Sheet 6 of 12 US 8 571 401 B2 500 550 555 IMPLEMENT SET DELAY 570 GENERATE AND TRANSMIT S IOC SIGNAL WITH FIRST mcn j SET POWER VALUE CAUSE REMOTE DEVICE TO gt CHANGE TO SECOND SET POWER VALUE FI
29. US008571401B2 a2 United States Patent 10 Patent No US 8 571 401 B2 Clark 45 Date of Patent Oct 29 2013 54 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CHANGING 56 References Cited POWER STATES OF A REMOTE DEVICE USING ONE OR MORE CAMERA BODY U S PATENT DOCUMENTS CONTROLS AND A PRESET DELAY 3 039 375 6 1962 Umbach 3 185 056 A 5 1965 Gold et al 71 Applicant Lab Partners Associates Inc South 3 205 803 A 9 1965 Burgarella et al Burlington VT US Continued 72 Inventor x Clark South Burlington VT FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 1 CA 2616030 1 2013 73 Assignee Lab Partners Associates Inc Souh CN 2007 80020420 4 6 2010 Burlington VT US Continued Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this OTHER PUBLICATIONS patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 0 days Profoto Pro B2 User s manual dated 2005 21 Appl No 13 692 515 Continued 22 Filed Dec 3 2012 Primary Examiner Clayton E LaBalle 3 Assistant Examiner Leon W Rhodes Jr 65 Prior Publication Data 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Downs Rachlin Martin US 2013 0089313 A1 11 2013 PELC Related U S Application Data 57 ABSTRACT 63 Continuation of application No 12 705 052 filed on A control system for controlling power states of a controlled Feb 12 2010 now Pat No 8 326 141 dE device such as a lighting device a special effects device and Kod in scene device in a photographic image acqui
30. accompanied by and or contain data such as one or more power level values and or a power state change time delay value for a subsequent power change among others Examples of such data are described below in the detailed examples At step 115 the first power state change signal is transmit ted so as to cause one or more controlled devices to operate at a first power state As alluded to above relative to generating step 110 the way the controlled device s are caused to oper ate at the first power state depends on the configuration of the overall control system For example if a particular controlled device has user settable power level settings that can be input wirelessly then the system can be configured for example so that the power state change signal contains a desired power level setting In another example if a particular controlled device has user settable power level settings that can be input only either through an onboard user interface on the device or through a wired port on the device then the system may include two wireless devices a first one at the camera body and a second one connected to the wired input port of the controlled device In one scenario the first wireless device at the camera body may transmit a simple remote device trigger signal to the second wireless device at the controlled device In this case upon receiving the trigger signal the second wireless device would for example send the illumination outp
31. an be controlled using any suitable one of the control schemes disclosed herein for controlling remote devices such as the control schemes described above or devised in the spirit ofthe specifically disclosed control schemes and the present disclo sure An advantage of implementing such a control scheme in connection with LED array modeling lighting device 1064 other than the sheer ease is that the device can be controlled to be turned on and or adjusted to the appropriate power level substantially only when its light is needed thereby reducing the power drain on battery pack When such control schemes are utilized with other modeling lighting devices and other light devices generally these control schemes can greatly reduce usage of those devices thereby extending the time between replacements of burned out light bulbs This can result in significant cost savings in replacement bulbs over time US 8 571 401 B2 23 As mentioned above remote device control functionality disclosed herein can be implemented regardless of whether the camera body signal s utilized is are analog signals or digital signals The examples of FIGS 6 8 above are directed to utilizing analog AF assist and backlighting control signals of a corresponding camera body that generates such signals to achieve the described exemplary remote device control functionality For the sake of completeness FIG 11 illustrates a digital camera body status communication sig
32. artificial wind snow mist and rain and or using contrived scenes that use in scene props and other items such as in scene lighting Today many special effects generators for example fans snow shakers misters and rain systems are turned off and on electronically using dedicated on off and or speed power control switches Similarly in scene lighting can often be controlled using such dedicated control switches Typically a photographer or more often a photographer s assistant has the task of controlling the operation of any special effects devices and in scene lighting for image acquisition In addition some photographic settings such as very low light scenes photographed in a photography studio or other location having controllable ambient lighting require ambi ent lighting to be lowered or turned off during image acqui 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 sition so that the ambient light does not interfere with image acquisition Often this ambient lighting needs to remain on except for short periods at and around the time of image acquisition because the ambient lighting is necessary for the photographer and any assistants to see while moving around the studio and or readying the scene for image acquisition Usually a photographer or photographer s assistant manually controls the pertinent ambient lighting device s using con ventional dedicated controls SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE Inoneimpl
33. ase simply a toggling signal If controller 216 determines it has not sent the first IOC signal method 500 proceeds to step 585 and sends that signal It is noted that if modeling lighting device 212 were so enabled to respond to transmitted first and second change levels the transmission of the relevant signaling at step 585 could include such a level value After controller 216 generates and transmits an IOC signal at step 585 method 500 loops back to step 510 If however at step 580 controller 216 determines that it has already sent a first IOC signal e g in response to a user turning camera body backlighting on method 500 proceeds to step 590 at which the controller generates and transmits a second IOC signal here simply another toggle signal for example in response to the user turning the camera backlighting off After controller 216 gen erates and transmits an IOC signal at step 590 method 500 loops back to step 510 It is noted that as with additional optional steps of method 500 relating to AF Assist mode 424 various additional optional steps may be added relative to Wake and Backlight modes 420 428 For example various disabling steps and or interrupt steps may be added to disable certain functionality and or to allow ones of the various modes to interrupt one another Those skilled in the art will readily understand how to implement the illustrated and other steps using well known programming and or circuit design techniq
34. ay panel of LEDs to provide continuous light at a user selectable illumi nation output level Such a modeling lighting device is avail able from Elinca Geneva Switzerland among other photo graphic lighting manufacturers Modeling lighting device 212 includes an onboard controller not shown that can be set to any one of various illumination output levels via either of an integrated user interface 270 and a wired communications port 272 Because modeling lighting device 212 does not have a built in wireless communications device like generator pack 256 the modeling lighting device is supplemented with anexternal RF wireless communications device 276 that 1s in wired communication with wired communications port 272 of the device In this example modeling lighting device 212 is configured to be toggled between two user preset illumi nation output levels set by a user via integrated user interface 270 in response to it receiving a certain trigger signal Con sequently wireless communications device 276 is in wireless RF communication with controller 216 so as to receive first and second IOC signals which may be the same as one another that cause wireless communications device 276 to provide each certain toggling trigger signal to modeling light ing device 212 In this connection wireless communications device 276 includes an RF receiver not shown In other embodiments wireless communications device 260 may also include an RF transmit
35. controller 216 into a camera body this can be accomplished by retrofitting an existing camera body or by designing the functionality into a new camera body design prior to production In the latter case any micropro cessor s circuitry used for the modeling lighting control functionality disclosed herein could be the same micropro cessor s circuitry that controls conventional camera func tionalities In yet other variations any microprocessor soft ware implementation envisioned herein could be replaced by US 8 571 401 B2 11 a purely hardware implementation at the choice of the designer It is also noted that depending on the nature of the particular controller the transmitter could be supplemented with a receiver or both could be replaced by a transceiver without departing from the spirit of the embodiments dis closed and intended to be covered by the appended claims Returning now to the illustrative example microprocessor 300 performs a host of functions including but not limited to executing machine executable instructions 326 e g firm ware stored in memory 312 communicating with camera body interface 308 controlling communicating with commu nications port 316 controlling communicating with transmit ter 320 and providing wireless controller 216 with its unique functionality Camera body interface 308 receives signals from a camera body such as camera body 204 of FIG 2 for example via hotshoe 220 and transforms t
36. ction lighting system 208 which includes a continuous modeling light and a dedicated modeling lighting device 212 In this example each modeling lighting apparatus 208 212 is con trollable from camera body 204 via a controller 216 mounted to a hotshoe 220 on the camera body As described below in detail controller 216 is configured to control the modeling lighting functionality of multifunction lighting system 208 in one the other or both of a wake mode and an autofocus assist mode depending on a user s preference and to control mod eling lighting device 212 in a backlight control mode Briefly wake mode of controller 216 uses a camera body wake signal anda corresponding camera body sleep signal each generated by camera body 204 to control scene illumination output levels of continuous type modeling lighting of multifunction lighting system 208 The wake signal may be generated by any of a variety of controls on camera body 204 However very useful control for a photographer to use to initiate the US 8 571 401 B2 7 wake signal is a shutter release button 224 on camera body 204 a partial press commonly referred to as a half press of which causes the camera body to generate a wake signal The corresponding sleep signal is typically automatically gener ated by camera body 204 for example by an internal micro processor after a preset time following release of the shutter release or other control Autofocus assist AFA
37. e detection of the one or more camera body signals can be performed inter nally or externally relative to the camera body for example by a controller such as a microprocessor software systems hardware controller a combination of these or other cir cuitry Several examples of internal and external detection are described below in detail US 8 571 401 B2 5 At step 110 a first power state change signal is generated in response to the detection of the one or more camera body signals in step 105 Like detecting step 105 generating step 110 can be performed internally or externally relative to the camera body depending on the configuration of the overall control system For example if a particular camera body includes an internal controller generating step 110 can be performed internally In another example in which a control ler is provided externally to a camera body generation step 110 is performed outside the camera body As will become apparent from the detailed examples provided below the first power state change signal can be for example a signal rec ognizable directly by the target i e controlled device s or recognizable by an intermediate device such as a wireless receiving device that in turn generates one or more signals recognizable by the controlled device s The relevant signal ing depends on the overall configuration of the system As will also be discussed below the first power state change signal may be
38. ed by antenna 1052 Referring to FIG 4 sub mode 444B of Backlight mode 428 is selected in this example so that when the camera body backlighting is turned on switch 1048 and hence studio lighting devices 1004 are turned off Then when a photographer is ready to acquire one or more images of scene 1016 under low level lighting con ditions the photographer simply needs to turn the camera backlighting on for example using a backlighting control switch 1056 on camera body 1020 The photographer may do this at any desired time for example after he she turns on fan 1008 and post light 1012 which can be accomplished by actuating a partial press of a shutter release button 1060 on camera body 1020 As described above a partial press typi cally causes a camera body such as camera body 1020 to generate a camera body wake signal which the remote device controller aboard the camera body then uses to perform the process of controlling fan 1008 and post light 1012 via power controller 1040 Those skilled in the art will readily under stand that this example is merely illustrative and in no way should be construed as limiting There are many ways of controlling studio lighting devices 1004 fan 1008 post light 1012 and other devices using the broad concepts disclosed herein Studio 1000 of FIG 10 also includes an LED array mod eling lighting device 1064 which in this example is powered by a battery pack 1068 Modeling lighting device 1064 c
39. eet 12 of 12 Oct 29 2013 U S Patent p SLAG SMLVIS VEY 1 Mal y AA AA UU XP X HD woo DR Sw A PA PZ FE P dh ts enm ue Qo i dtt d m 3 n 1 Qi ai _ SNOLIOINDIRMOO JOHS YENYO qu 9izi eu gg Vel US 8 571 401 B2 1 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CHANGING POWER STATES OF A REMOTE DEVICE USING ONE OR MORE CAMERA BODY CONTROLS AND A PRESET DELAY RELATED APPLICATION DATA This application is a continuation of U S application Ser No 12 705 052 filed Feb 12 2010 and titled Systems and Methods For Changing Power States Of A Remote Device Using One or More Camera Body Controls and A Preset Delay which application claims the benefit of priority of U S Provisional Patent Application No 61 151 876 filed on Feb 12 2009 and titled Systems And Methods For Chang ing Power States Of A Remote Device Using One Or More Camera Body Controls And A Preset Delay Each of these applications is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to the field of pho tography In particular the present invention is directed to systems and methods for changing power states of a remote device using one or more camera body c
40. eld preview signal includes detecting the camera body depth of field preview signal via the hotshoe 11 A method according to claim 9 wherein said detecting of the at least one camera body signal includes detecting at least one camera body signal that is generated by the camera body in response to a user actuation of a depth of field pre view button 12 A method according to claim 1 wherein said imple menting the preset delay includes starting a delay timer in response to said detecting ofthe at least one first camera body signal 13 A method according to claim 1 further comprising detecting at least one second camera body signal wherein said implementing ofthe preset delay includes setting a delay timer in response to said detecting of the at least one second camera body signal 14 method according to claim 13 wherein said detecting ofthe at least one second camera body signal includes detect ing a camera body sleep signal and said implementing of the preset delay includes setting the delay timer in response to said detecting of the camera body sleep signal 15 A method according to claim 14 further comprising transmitting a second power level change setting in response to said detecting of the at least one second camera body signal 16 A method according to claim 13 further comprising generating a second power level signal in response to said detecting ofthe at least one second camera body signal and transmitting the
41. ementation the present disclosure is directed to amethod of changing power states ofa remote lighting device using a camera body including detecting at least one first camera body signal that is generated as a function of a user actuation of at least one camera body control generating a first power level signal in response to said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal the first power level signal including data representing a first power output level for the remote lighting device wirelessly transmitting the first power level signal so as to cause the remote lighting device to oper ate at the first power output level implementing a preset delay and causing the remote lighting device to change from the first power output level to a second power output level different from the first power output level in response to expiration of the preset delay In another implementation the present disclosure is directed to a system for changing power states of a remote lighting device using a camera body The system includes a means for detecting at least one first camera body signal that is generated as a function of a user actuation of at least one camera body control a means for generating a first power level signal in response to said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal the first power level signal including data representing a first power output level for the remote lighting device a means for wirelessly transmitt
42. eto a high voltage here 3 5V Circuitry 804 includes an input 816 that carries an input voltage signal 820 that contains wake and AFA signals 808 812 when they occur Input 816 is electrically coupled to inputs of corresponding respective first and second compara tors 824 828 that each compare input voltage signal 820 to a particular reference voltage on a corresponding reference voltage line 832 836 Here the reference voltage for first comparator 824 is 0 5V which allows the first comparator to output a wake signal present signal 840 when wake signal 808 is present on input 816 Similarly the reference voltage for second comparator 828 is 2V which allows the second comparator to output an AFA signal present signal 844 when AFA signal 812 is present on input 816 In this example wake signal present and AFA signal present signals 840 844 are provided as inputs to microprocessor 300 FIG 3 If the I O voltage regime of microprocessor 300 is OV to 3 3V then the wakeup signal present and AFA signal present sig nals 840 844 output from comparators 824 828 are either about OV or about 3 3V depending on whether corresponding wake and AFA signals 808 812 are present on input voltage signal 820 Of course those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other circuitry may be used While the foregoing example is directed to an analog sig naling scheme those skilled in the art would readily be able to implement control concepts
43. gs and delay value into the controlled device and the controlled device uses this information to control the first and second power changes In this example steps 120 125 are performed by the various aspects of the sending of the original power state signal loading of the delay and second power state setting by the second wireless device and the response of the controlled device to the set delay and second power state level In a dual wireless device scenario other variations include but are not limited to the first device including the delay timer the second device including the delay timer the first device being programmed with desired power state levels and delay value and the second device being programmed with desired power state levels and delay value Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that there are numerous possible scenarios for performing steps 120 125 and that a description of all of these scenarios is not needed for those skilled in the art to implement the broad concepts disclosed herein in any of the possible scenarios based on the present disclosure Several particular examples of possible scenarios are described below in detail FIG 2 illustrates an exemplary photographic system 200 that is configured to carry out the steps of method 100 of FIG 1 Referring to FIG 2 and also to FIG 1 photographic system 200 includes a camera body 204 and two continuous type modeling lighting apparatuses namely a multifun
44. h as but not limited to machine executable instructions 326 for enabling the functionality of the controller controller setup data controlled modeling light device parameter settings such as illumination output levels and delay values con trolled device instructions sets and communications set tings e g transmit and receive frequencies device identi fication codes etc among other things Those skilled in the art will understand all of the various types of information that can needs to be stored in memory 312 to make controller 216 a device that functions according to the concepts disclosed herein Continuing with this illustrative example external com munications port 316 is provided for transferring information to and from controller 216 This allows a user to custom configure controller 216 and provide any needed operational settings for a particular application of the controller In the present example communications port 316 is a USB port However any other type of communications port including a wireless port e g Bluetooth IEEE 802 11 etc can be provided in place of or in addition to USB port 316 In this connection FIG 4 illustrates controller 216 in an information transfer environment 400 In this example controller 216 is connected to a suitable programming device such as laptop computer 404 shown via a USB cable 408 since in this example external communications port 316 is a USB port Laptop compute
45. hose devices Power controller 1040 in this example includes a built in timer not shown and is configured to be responsive to wireless signals containing power state change settings and a delay value in a manner similar to the modeling light of multifunctional lighting sys tem 208 of FIG 8 Consequently when the remote device controller detects a wake signal it generates and transmits a signal that contains 1 the power state for power controller 1040 to change fan 1008 and post light 1012 to upon receipt of the signal 2 the power state for the power controller to change the fan and post light to when the delay times out and 3 the delay value These correspond to the values set in fields 436 of GUI 412 of FIG 4 Note that in the present case the values for fields 436A C are respectively 10 0 and 20 seconds That is the power states of fan 1008 and post light 1012 are very low upon the first power state change and are off after the expiration of the 20 second delay The 20 second delay gives the photographer about a 20 second window for capturing images As mentioned above studio lighting devices 1004 are con trolled using Backlight mode 428 FIG 4 and during image capturing it is desired that the studio lighting be turned off To facilitate this studio 1000 includes a special switch 1048 that can be toggled on and off under wireless control Conse quently switch 1048 includes a wireless receiver not shown but evidenc
46. hose signals as needed for use by microprocessor 300 Signals that camera body interface 308 is configured to transform in this example are a camera body wake sleep signal a camera body autofo cus assist signal and a camera body backlight signal An example of circuitry suitable for use in camera body interface 308 when these signals are analog voltage signals is described below in connection with FIG 8 It is noted however that not all camera systems use analog signals to communicate infor mation such as wake sleep autofocus assist and backlight on off externally from the camera body Other camera sys tems handle such communication digitally for example using digitally encoded signals In such cases the camera body interface may simply be a data link to the microproces sor Yet other camera systems may implement a hybrid approach wherein one or more signals are analog and one or more signals are digitally encoded In the context of a micro processor based controller the camera body interface would be configured to handle both types of signaling As alluded to above memory 312 is used generically in FIG 3 to denote any and all types of memory in communi cation with controller 216 including BIOS memory and RAM among others that are as mentioned above integrated into microprocessor 300 and or provided externally to the microprocessor Memory 312 contains information wireless controller 216 needs to perform its functionality suc
47. iagram 700 while camera body 204 remains awake and correspondingly wake signal 704 remains high the camera body generates first and second AFA signals 712 716 in this example 1 5 seconds apart from one another When controller 216 detects the leading edge 712A of first AFA signal 712 it generates and transmits a 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 18 modeling light instruction set in a manner essentially the same as described above relative to FIG 6 This instruction set includes the first power change level the second power change level and the delay for the AF Assist mode here respectively 8096 6096 5 seconds Upon receiving such instruction set as seen by modeling light illumination out put curve 708 generator pack 256 changes its modeling light power output to 8096 and sets its internal timer to 5 seconds Like the example of FIG 6 if controller 216 does not detect another AFA signal in about 5 seconds from detecting first AFA signal i e about the time of the AF Assist mode delay value the built in timer of wireless communications device 260 will time out and will cause generator pack 256 to make the second power level change to the preset level here 6096 However in the scenario illustrated in FIG 7 within about 1 5 seconds of detecting first AFA signal 712 controller 216 detects second AFA signal 716 which in this example causes the controller to send the same instruction set i
48. ice controller 928 may be configured to have the same or similar functionality as described above relative to controller 216 in connection with FIGS 2 8 including the programmability illustrated relative to FIG 4 and the signaling and functioning illustrated relative to FIGS 5 8 In this connection it is noted that the function ality of controller 216 described above relative to FIGS 2 8 is specific to modeling lighting However those skilled in the art will understand that the illumination output levels and control of modeling lighting devices 208 212 are readily translatable into power state levels and control of non modeling lighting devices such as special effects devices 916 non modeling continuous lighting devices 920 and in scene non lighting devices 924 For example FIG 10 illustrates a scenario within a pho tography studio 1000 in which a remote device controller not shown but the same as or similar to remote device controller 928 of FIG 9 is used to control non modeling lighting devices specifically general studio lighting devices 1004 a special effects fan 1008 and an in scene lighting device 1 a post lamp 1012 In this example the remote device control ler is configured in a manner similar to controller 216 of FIGS 1 and 2 has settings similar to the settings shown in GUI 412 of FIG 4 and performs the steps of method 500 of FIGS 5A B at least with respect to Wake mode 420 and Backlight mode 428 FIG 4
49. id a means for detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes a means for detecting a camera body depth of field preview signal and said means for generating of the first power level signal includes a means for generating the first power level signal in response to said detecting of the camera body depth of field preview signal 26 A system according to claim 25 wherein the camera body has a hotshoe and said means for detecting of the camera depth of field preview signal includes a means for detecting the camera body depth of field preview signal via the hot shoe 27 A system according to claim 25 wherein said means for detecting of the at least one camera body signal includes a means for detecting at least one camera body signal that 1 generated by the camera body in response to a user actuation of a depth of field preview button 28 A system according to claim 17 wherein said means for implementing the preset delay includes a means for starting a delay timer in response to said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal 20 25 30 35 40 45 28 29 A system according to claim 17 further comprising a means for detecting at least one second camera body signal wherein said means for implementing of the preset delay includes a means for setting a delay timer in response to said detecting of the at least one second camera body signal 30 A system according to claim 29 wherein said means f
50. ignal a camera body backlighting on off signal a menu control signal a flash compensation signal a signal from a click wheel or other user control such as a partial press switch signal generated upon a partial press of a shutter release button Examples of a camera body signal generated externally include but are not limited to a partial press switch signal initiated from an external device and commu nicated to the camera body for example via an external communications port on the camera body e g a hotshoe a proprietary connector port a motor drive port a universal serial bus USB port a FIREWIRE IEEE 1394 port etc and any other camera body signal that can be initiated or generated externally from the camera body Specific examples are described below in detail to give the reader an understanding of how step 105 can be implemented However those skilled in the art will appreciate that con trols provided to a particular camera body and camera body control signals vary to a great extent such that it is impractical to cover all current conventional camera body controls and camera body control signals and that it is virtually impossible to predict future camera body controls and camera body con trol signals That said those skilled in the art will readily be able to implement the broad concepts of the present disclo sure for virtually any one or more camera body controls and or any one or more camera body signals Th
51. ination output level and 3 a delay value used to determine when to cause the second illumination output level change In this example illumination output levels are expressedas a percentage ofthe maximum illumination output and the delay value is expressed in seconds Ifa user selects checkbox 432B indicating AF Assist mode 424 the autofocus assist parameter selection input fields 440A C become active In this example autofocus assist mode selection fields 440A C are for inputting three desired values respectively 1 a first illumination output level in this example the illumination output level to which to change the modeling lighting of multifunctional lighting system 208 FIG 2 as a function of controller 216 detecting a camera body wake signal 2 a second illumination output level here the illumination output level to which to change the modeling lighting of the multifunctional lighting system from the first illumination output level and 3 a delay value used to deter mine when to cause the second illumination output level US 8 571 401 B2 13 change In this example illumination output levels are expressed as a percentage of the maximum illumination out put and the delay value is expressed in seconds Ifa user selects checkbox 432C indicating Backlight mode 428 a pair of parameter selection checkbox controls 444A B become active In this example Backlight mode 428 has two sub modes 448A B In first sub mode 448A the con
52. indeed be mounted on the controller via an auxiliary hotshoe 280 that has the same signals avail able as the signals available at hotshoe 220 Nonetheless in this example controller 216 is configured to utilize some of the same information that camera body 204 normally pro vides to a compatible flash device via hotshoe 220 Often however conventional camera bodies do not provide their hotshoes with any signaling i e wake sleep autofocus assist backlighting etc if they do not recognize that a com patible device has been engaged with the hotshoe Conse quently in such cases wireless controller 216 can be config ured with an appropriate system for causing camera body 204 to provide the needed signals U S patent application Ser No 12 129 402 filed on May 29 2008 and titled System and Method For Maintaining Hot Shoe Communications Between A Camera and A Wireless Device discloses such systems and is incorporated herein by reference for all of its teachings on these systems Referring now to FIG 3 and also to FIG 2 in this example controller 216 includes among other things a microproces sor 300 a hotshoe connector 304 a camera body signal inter face 308 memory 312 an external communications port 316 an RF transmitter 320 and an antenna 324 It is emphasized at this point and will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the components of this example and their arrangement are presented for the sake of ill
53. ing device using a camera body comprising detecting at least one first camera body signal that is gen erated as a function of a user actuation of at least one camera body control generating a first power level signal in response to said detecting ofthe at least one first camera body signal the first power level signal including data representing a first power output level for the remote lighting device wirelessly transmitting the first power level signal so as to cause the remote lighting device to operate at the first power output level implementing a preset delay and causing the remote lighting device to change from the first power output level to a second non zero power output level different from the first power output level in response to expiration of the preset delay 2 A method according to claim 1 wherein said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes detecting a camera body wake signal and said generating of the first power level signal includes generating the first power level signal in response to said detecting of the camera body wake signal 3 A method according to claim 2 wherein the camera body has a hotshoe and said detecting of the camera body wake signal includes detecting the camera body wake signal via the hotshoe 4 A method according to claim 1 wherein said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes detecting a camera body autofocus assist signal and said gene
54. ing the first power level signal so as to cause the remote lighting device to operate at the first power output level a means for implement inga preset delay and a means for causing the remote lighting device to change from the first power output level to a second power output level different from the first power output level in response to expiration of the preset delay In still another implementation the present disclosure is directed to a machine readable hardware storage medium containing machine executable instructions for performing a method of changing power states of a remote lighting device using a camera body The machine executable instructions includes a set of machine executable instructions for imple menting detection ofat least one first camera body signal that is generated as a function of a user actuation of at least one camera body control a set of machine executable instruc tions for generating a first power level signal in response to the detection ofthe at least one first camera body signal a set of machine executable instructions for initiating transmitting of the first power level signal so as to cause the remote lighting device to operate at a first power state a set of machine executable instructions for implementing a preset delay and a set of machine executable instructions for caus ing the remote lighting device to change from the first power state to a second power state different from the first power state in
55. initiating transmitting of the first power level signal so as to cause the remote lighting device to operate at a first power state a set of machine executable instructions for implementing a preset delay and a set of machine executable instructions for causing the remote lighting device to change from the first power state to a second non zero power state different from the first power state in response to expiration of the preset delay
56. into the correspond ing controlled device 912 1 N 916 1 N 920 1 N 924 1 N or may be provided as an aftermarket solution Similarly camera body 908 is shown as having differing alternative extents 976 980 to show that remote device con troller 928 and various parts thereof can be located either internally or externally relative to the camera body depend ing on the particular design at issue For example when US 8 571 401 B2 21 camera body 908 excludes the entirety of remote device con troller 928 the controller may bea hotshoe mountable device such as shown with controller 216 of FIGS 2 and 3 However in alternative embodiments one or both of controlling means 932 and transmitting means 936 may be included within camera body 908 In an example of the former controlling means 932 may be implemented in the onboard microproces sor not shown of camera body 908 and transmitting means 936 implemented in an external accessory RF transmitter In an example ofthe latter controlling means 932 may be imple mented in the onboard microprocessor not shown of camera body 908 and transmitting means 936 implemented in an onboard transmitter provided in the camera body for example at the time of manufacture Regardless of how remote device controller 928 is config ured relativeto camera body 908 it may readily be configured to perform methods ofthe present disclosure such as method 100 of FIG 1 For example remote dev
57. le the user set delay value present in field 440C of GUI 412 FIG 4 is implemented relative to the camera body sleep signal Since wireless communication device 260 includes a built in timer when controller 216 detects a camera body sleep signal at step 560 it proceeds to step 565 in which it implements the set delay value from field 440C In this example controller 216 accomplishes step 565 by transmit ting to wireless controller a second IOC signal that includes the second change level setting set in field 440B of GUI 412 along with a set timer instruction and the delay value set in field 440C of GUI 412 At step 570 controller 216 causes the modeling lighting of multifunction lighting system 208 to change to the second change level set in field 440B of GUI 412 Again controller 216 performs step 570 by way of the transmitting of the set delay value to wireless communica tions device 260 at the same time as the second change level setting Generator pack 256 then changes the illumination output level of the modeling lighting to the second change level when the timer in second wireless communications device times out on the delay In other embodiments steps 565 and 570 can be handled differently For example if con troller 21 6 were to have the timer functionality step 565 could involve the controller setting the timer and step 570 could involve the controller transmitting the second change level upon timing out of the timer Of course
58. llumination level at step 525 at the same time it trans mits the set delay value Those skilled in the art will under stand that other implementations can utilize a timer function built into the controller At step 535 controller 216 causes the modeling light to change to the second change level set in field 436B of GUI 412 In the present example in which generator pack 256 is responsive to a robust instruction set controller 216 performs step 535 by sending the second change level along with the delay value and first change level that the controller sends at step 525 Generator pack 256 then implements the change of the modeling light of multifunction lighting system 208 to the second change level after the inter nal timer of the generator pack times out on the set delay value If in another implementation controller 216 provides the timer functionality the controller could send a second IOC signal containing the second change level in response to the timer timing out Still further options are possible depending on the particular capabilities of the modeling light ing devices at issue It is noted that the flow diagram for method 500 does not capture other steps that can be imple mented to provide various other operating features that may be needed to provide desired operation For example once controller 216 detects a camera body AFA signal at step 520 it may be desirable to disable Wake mode 420 and or back light B L mode 428 to pre
59. n image This is not represented in FIG 12 but occurs at some point prior to event 1204A which occurs in response to such a shutter release event In addition to generating event 1204A the camera body also generates X sync signal 1220 at some known fixed time after generating event 1204A In response to detecting event 1204A the remote device controller generates and transmits almost immediately initiate timer signal 1208 that starts the timer in the remote device receiver The timer then executes predetermined delay 1224 that in this case controls thetime that the remote device changes state In this example predetermined delay 1224 is set to perform a first state change 1228 that changes the state of the remote device just prior to the start of image capture which occurs at leading edge 1220A of X sync signal 1220 In a digital camera the time between leading and trailing edges 1220A B of X sync signal 1220 correspond to the integration period i e the time period the image sensor is exposed to light from the scene being photographed In other cases predetermined delay 1224 can be adjusted so that the state change occurs exactly at the opening ofthe shutter or at some time after the opening of the shutter but before the shutter is closed Depending on the nature of the remote device being trig gered the remote device only needs to have one state change such as in the case of the firing of a bullet or the detonating of an explosi
60. nal 1100 that generally includes digital equivalents to the AF assist and backlighting signals discussed above In this example when the camera body is awake the camera body continually broadcasts camera body flash status and settings information via communication signal 1100 in the form of digital data bursts here 1104 1108 1112 1116 1120 that each contain for example 12 to 24 bytes of status informa tion bits of which indicates statuses of various camera body flash status and settings In this example FIG 11 shows four bytes 1120A D of such 12 to 24 bytes of burst 1120 and one of these bytes 1 byte 1120B contains a status bit 1124 of interest In this example status bit 1124 is a bit that indicates whether or not the backlight is on with a high value 1 indicating on and a low value 0 indicating off Byte 1120B or other byte of any one of the data bursts can also include a status bit indicating that an AF assist request has been made The same is true for many other camera body signals such as a red eye reduction signal among others When the camera body signals being utilized for remote device control func tionality the corresponding controller for example the digi tal counterpart to controller 216 of FIG 2 can be configured to monitor communications signal 1100 for the bit s of inter ests for example using digital signal monitoring techniques known in the art Once the controller detects the desired signal s
61. ne whether Wake mode 420 has been enabled for example in a manner similar to AF Assist mode 424 However if at step 510 controller 216 determines or knows that AF Assist mode 424 is enabled then method 500 proceeds to step 520 at which the controller determines whether or not it has detected an AFA signal generated by camera body 204 FIG 2 If controller 216 has not detected camera body AFA signal method 500 simply proceeds to step 515 to determine whether Wake mode 420 is enabled On the other hand if controller 216 has detected a camera body AFA 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 signal at step 525 controller 216 generates and transmits an illumination output change signal In this example since generator pack 256 FIG 2 of multifunction lighting system 208 has built in wireless communication device 260 and is responsive to instructions containing illumination level set tings step 525 includes transmitting the first change level set in field 436A of GUI 412 In this example controller 216 transmits the first change level signal as soon as possible after it detects the camera body AFA signal At step 530 controller implements the delay set in field 436C of GUI 412 In this example generator pack 256 has an internal timer and is responsive to wirelessly received instruc tions that include delay values Consequently in one example when controller 216 transmits the IOC signal along with the first i
62. nications in which case wire less communications links 940 will be wireless optical links etc In the case of wireless RF communications transmitting means 936 may be an RF transmitter or RF transceiver and each receiving means 944 1 N 948 1 N 952 1 N 956 1 N may be an RF receiver or RF transceiver In the case of wireless optical communications transmitting means 936 may be for example an IR transmitter transceiver or a visible light transmitter e g flash lighting strobe trans ceiver and each corresponding receiving means 944 1 N 948 1 N 952 1 N 956 1 N may be an IR receiver transceiver or visible light receiver transceiver Those skilled in the art will readily understand how to implement the desired communications mode as needed to suit a particular design Each controlled device 912 1 N 916 1 N 920 1 N 924 1 N shown in FIG 9 is shown as having a corre sponding alternative device extent 960 1 N 964 1 N 968 1 N 972 1 N to indicate that the corresponding receiving means 944 1 N 948 1 N 952 1 N 956 1 N can be located essentially internally relative to that con trolled device rather than externally essentially being used to indicate that one or more parts of the receiving means such as antenna optical sensor etc may be located externally For example any one of receiving means 944 1 N 948 1 N 952 1 N 956 1 N may be built
63. nimaging com global technology scene 1 1 index htm last viewed on Mar 14 2008 Nikon WT 2 Article Part 2 Nikon Corporation http nikonimaging com global technology scene 1l index 02 htm last viewed on Mar 14 2008 Phil Askey Nikon D2H Review 15 Wireless Digital Photography Review Wireless Review of WT 1 Transmitter Dec 2003 http www dpreview com reviews NikonD2H pagel 5 asp last viewed on Mar 18 2008 Phil Askey Nikon D2H Review 1 Introduction Digital Photogra phy Review Nikon D2H Review Dec 2003 http www dpreview com reviews NikonD2H last viewed on Mar 18 2008 Phil Askey Nikon D2Hs Preview 1 Introduction Digital Photogra phy Review includes Review of WT 2 Transmitter Feb 2005 http www dpreview com articles nikond2hs last viewed Mar 14 2008 PocketWizard Multi MAX Transceiver New Trigger Control Soft ware Features by LPA Design Feb 10 2001 pp 1 to 6 United States PocketWizard MultiMAX Transceiver Owner s Manual by LPA Design May 2001 1 55 and Relay Mode on p 40 United States Quantum FreeWire Transceiver Jul 17 2005 pp 1 to 7 http web archive org web 20050717015832 http www qtm com wireless freewire html last viewed at Internet Archive on Apr 25 2008 Quantum FreeWire Transceiver Nov 15 2004 pp to 7 http web archive org web 2004 1 115093657 http www qtm com wireless freewire html last viewed at Internet Archive on Apr 25 2008 Q
64. o changes These fields may be iden tical to fields 436A B 440A B of respectively Wake mode 420 and AF Assist mode 424 Then if a user wants off on off functionality the user would input 10096 power for the first power level change corresponding to the off on transition and 096 power for the second power level change corre sponding to the on off transition Of course other alterna tives are possible FIGS 5A B illustrate a flow diagram illustrating one pos sible method 500 of controlling controller 216 so as to pro vide the controller with the functionality illustrated via GUI 412 of FIG 4 As those skilled in the art will readily appre ciate method 500 can be implemented in software in analog circuitry and in any combination thereof At step 505 method 500 begins Depending on the power state of controller 216 step 505 may begin when the controller is first powered on and if the controller has wake and sleep states to control power consumption every time the controller is woken up At step 510 the controller determines or already knows whether or not AF Assist AFA mode 424 is enabled As discussed above relative to GUI 412 FIG 4 AF Assist mode 424 may be enabled during an appropriate setup procedure for example by a user checking checkbox 432B in the GUI with controller 216 in communication with laptop 404 If AF Assist mode 424 is not enabled method 500 continues to step 515 wherein controller 216 checks to determi
65. of the present disclosure in a digital signaling scheme where a camera body communicates various state and control information internally and or exter nally using digitally encoded information In addition it is noted that while the foregoing example is directed to a con troller located externally relative to a camera body as men tioned above a controller of the same like or other control functionality can be built into a camera body A potential advantage of building a controller implementing broad con cepts of the present disclosure into a camera body is that a greater variety of camera body signals would likely be avail able since typically only a subset of the signals generated by a camera body are normally available externally to a camera body through various ports on the camera body While FIGS 2 8 are directed specifically to controlling modeling lighting devices methods incorporating broad con cepts disclosed herein such as method 100 of FIG 1 can be used to control virtually any type of controllable device FIG 9 generally illustrates this concept FIG 9 illustrates diagram matically a flexible system 900 that allows a photographer to control any one or more of a myriad of devices of any one or more types using one or more camera body controls 904 located on a camera body 908 In this example devices that are controllable include modeling lighting devices 912 912 1 N which may be similar to modeling lighting appara
66. ontrols and a preset delay BACKGROUND Photography is an integral component of modern society and photographed images pervade our lives Photographic images appear for example in books magazines catalogs journals newspapers billboards posters and scrapbooks and are displayed in homes art galleries retail stores shopping malls office buildings and many other places While many photographic images are acquired using only natural ambient light many other images are acquired using photographic flash lighting When image acquisition flash lighting is used a photographer often uses one or more modeling lights prior to image acquisition for any of a variety of reasons such as checking for unwanted shadows glare reflection etc and or checking for desired shadows and other lighting effects Gen erally these modeling lights are either kept powered up to a sufficient level or turned up to a sufficient level when needed Keeping the modeling lighting powered up can be problem atic due to the heat this type of lighting generates which can be uncomfortable for live models and detrimental to heat sensitive still subjects Occasionally turning up the power of modeling lighting can be inconvenient even using more recent remotely controlled modeling lights Many photographic images are acquired without adding special effects to the captured scene However many other photographic images are acquired using added special effects such as
67. or detecting of the at least one second camera body signal includes a means for detecting a camera body sleep signal and said means for implementing of the preset delay includes a means for setting the delay timer in response to said detecting of the camera body sleep signal 31 A system according to claim 30 further comprising a means for transmitting a second power level change setting in response to said detecting of the at least one second camera body signal 32 A system according to claim 29 further comprising a means for generating a second power level signal in response to said detecting of the at least one second camera body signal and a means for transmitting the second power level signal along with the preset delay in response to said detecting of the at least one second camera body signal 33 A machine readable hardware storage medium con taining machine executable instructions for performing a method of changing power states of a remote lighting device using a camera body the machine executable instructions comprising a set of machine executable instructions for implementing detection of at least one first camera body signal that is generated as a function ofa user actuation of at least one camera body control a set of machine executable instructions for generating a first power level signal in response to the detection of the at least one first camera body signal a set of machine executable instructions for
68. other possibilities exist It is noted too that the delay could be initiated for example from the initial wake signal detection rather than the sleep signal detection After controller has performed steps 565 570 method 500 loops back to step 540 In another variation in which wireless communications device 260 at generator pack 256 includes a built in timer to handle the delay values set in fields 436C 440C of GUI 412 this communications device may be augmented with addi tional timer functionality to account for instances where either camera body 204 never generates in this example a sleep signal such as when a user turns the camera body off while it is still awake or controller 216 never transmits a second IOC signal such as when a user turns off the control ler before detecting a sleep signal and or transmitting the second IOC or a receiver failing to receive a second IOC signal for example because of interference between the transmitter and receiver In such a case wireless communi cations device 260 can include a second timer that is reset with a delay value herein called an inactivity delay value each time it receives a first IOC signal This inactivity delay value will typically be stored in wireless communications 0 jai 5 25 40 45 50 55 16 device 260 and should be a value greater than any reasonably anticipated value for either of the delay values set in fields 436C 440C of GUI 412
69. power state change signal at step 115 can be accompanied not only by a desired power change setting for the first power state change but also by a delay value and a desired power state setting for the second power state change Then when the built in timer times out on the set delay the controlled device automatically changes from the first power state to the second power state In another example wherein a controller at the camera body has a timer and the controlled device at issue is responsive to power state change signals containing corresponding respective power change settings at step 115 the controller sends the first power state change signal containing a power state setting for the first power state and then sets its internal timer to the desired delay Then when the controller s timer times out on the set delay at step 125 the controller sends a second power state change signal containing a power change setting for the second power state change A further example includes two wireless devices and a controlled device that has settable power states and a settable delay but only through a wired port In one scenario at step 115 a first one of the wireless devices at the camera body sends the first power state change signal to a second one ofthe wireless devices at the controlled device When the second wireless device at the controlled device receives the first power state change signal it then loads first and second power state settin
70. ppl No 11 305 668 Mar 29 2007 Request for Correction of Letters 7 133 607 U S Appl No 11 529 203 Aug 14 2007 Office Action 7 362 965 US 8 571 401 B2 Page4 56 References Cited U S Appl No 12 250 914 Dec 3 2009 Notice of Allowance 7 102 228 OTHER PUBLICATIONS U S Appl No 12 762 811 Dec 28 2010 Office Action 7 970 267 U S Appl No 12 762 811 Mar 28 2011 Response to Office Action 7 970 267 No 11 529 203 Oct 16 2007 Terminal Disclaimer 15 5 Appl No 12 762 811 Mar 28 2011 Terminal Disclaimer 362 965 7 970 267 U S Appl 11 529 203 Oct 16 2007 Response to Office Action US Appl No 12 762 811 Apr 20 2011 Notice of Allowance 7 362 965 7 970 267 U S Appl No 11 529 203 Oct 25 2007 Terminal Disclaimer U S Appl 13 169 413 Dec 20 2011 Office Action 8 180 210 7 362 965 U S Appl No 13 169 413 Jan 16 2012 Response to Office Action U S Appl No 11 529 203 Dec 14 2007 Notice of Allowance 8 180 210 7 362 965 U S Appl No 13 169 413 Jan 16 2012 Terminal Disclaimers U S Appl No 12 104 950 Dec 31 2009 Office Action 7 764 875 8 180 210 U S Appl No 12 104 950 Feb 1 2010 Response to Office Action U S Appl No 13 169 413 Mar 22 2012 Notice of Allowance 7 164 875 8 180 210 U S Appl No 12 104 950 Mar 23 2010 Notice of Allowance 8 Appl 13 438 500 Jun 18 2012 Office Action
71. r 404 provides a convenient vehicle for pre 5 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 senting to a user a graphical user interface GUI 412 of a software application not shown but running on the laptop computer in a conventional manner designed for interacting with controller 216 GUI 412 is shown presenting a screen 416 that allows a user to select which mode s of device control operation the user desires to enable and also allows a user to set the appropriate parameter s for each of the selected modes Itis noted that the example shown in FIG 4 is simply that exemplary In other implementations the programming of a controller made according to the present disclosure can be accomplished in any one or more of a number of ways For example the controller can be provided with a user interface such as an LCD screen and one or more buttons or other input devices a touchscreen etc that allow a user to program the controller In other implementations control parameter val ues for the controller can be set with one or more mechanical buttons switches and or dials etc In yet other implementa tions control parameter values can be set wirelessly for example using a wireless port as mentioned above In such a case the programming device could be a smartphone e g BlackBerry device iPhone device PDA laptop computer desktop computer dedicated programming device etc Those skilled in the art will
72. rating of the first power level signal includes generating the first power level signal in response to said detecting of the camera body autofocus assist signal 5 A method according to claim 4 wherein the camera body has hotshoe and said detecting of the camera body autofocus assist signal includes detecting the camera body autofocus assist signal via the hotshoe 6 A methodaccording to claim 1 wherein said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes detecting at least one camera body signal that is generated by the camera body in response to a partial pressing of a shutter release control 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 26 7 method according to claim 6 wherein said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes detecting a camera body wake signal 8 A method according to claim 6 wherein said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes detecting a camera body autofocus assist signal 9 A method according to claim 1 wherein said detecting of the at least one first camera body signal includes detecting a camera body depth of field preview signal and said generat ing ofthe first power level signal includes generating the first power level signal in response to said detecting of the camera body depth of field preview signal 10 A method according to claim 9 wherein the camera body has a hotshoe and said detecting of the camera depth of fi
73. s available at the hotshoe of the camera body for example hotshoe 220 of camera body 204 of FIG 2 In this example the remote device controller not shown is ahotshoe mounted device that is the same as controller 216 of FIG 2 except that the present controller is responsive to digital signal 1204 rather than to the analog type signals that controller 216 is configured to responds to as described above Specifically in this example the remote device con troller is responsive to a particular event 1204A represented a 5 40 45 55 24 on digital signal 1204 that indicates a particular camera body event has occurred that is known to occur an exact amount of time prior to the shutter of the camera body opening In one example this event is the occurrence of a set flash power level signal In current Nikon DSLR bodies this set flash power level event 1204A is known to occur between 25 ms and 90 ms before the shutter opens depending on which camera body model is at issue This time difference is the same for every image captured on a given camera body model As described below in greater detail the remote device controller is configured to detect event 1204A and in response thereto transmit an initiate timer signal 1208 that begins the synchronization of the in scene event with the capturing of an image that includes the in scene event In the embodiment illustrated by timing diagram 1200 the remote device controller also
74. sition set 60 Provisional application No 61 151 876 filed on Feb ting The control system is configured to detect one or more 12 2009 camera body signals generated as a function of actuation of one or more camera body controls by a user The control 51 Int Cl system generates a first power state change signal in response G03B 15 06 2006 01 to the detected camera body signal s and transmits the power G03B 15 04 2006 01 state change signal to the remote device so as to cause the 52 U S Cl remote device to operate at a first power state The control USPC eeu 396 56 396 4 396 164 348 370 system also implements a preset delay and causes the remote 58 Field of Classification Search device to change from the first power state to a second power USPC 396 4 56 58 280 299 301 303 state in response to expiration of the preset delay 348 370 See application file for complete search history VOLTAGE 3 i i H t i Li t t t t t 1 1 i 33 Claims 12 Drawing Sheets 600 59 DELAY TIME 9 US 8 571 401 B2 Page2 56 References Cited 7 684 692 B2 3 2010 Kashiyama 7 702 228 B2 4 2010 Clark U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 7 714 908 B2 5 2010 Holmes 7 764 875 B2 7 2010 Clark 3 259 042 A 7 1966 Kagan 7 775 575 B2 8 2010 Clark RE26 627 E 7 1969 Burgarella et al 7 783 188 B2 8 2010 Clark 3 659 509 A 5 1972 Burgarella 7 834 894 B2 11 2010 Swanson et al 3 728 947 A 4 1973 Harnden et al
75. ss Comm Remote Device Controller 928 774 ee Link 940 Device 92001 Alt Device 2 Device At Deve ipee Extent e p Device ord 9241 aay epee gt D DL ES ay des Pia oe gt Y gt Y Send 1 Receivitg y Means 1 n iod DRR 1 Z Non Lighting Devices T i Receiving i Receiving Alt Device L7 Receiving Means 956 N Means 952 1 Extent 968 N 77 Means 956 1 Device Extent 97200 FIG 9 US 8 571 401 B2 Sheet 10 of 12 Oct 29 2013 U S Patent d XX f F M NS NY n Yi US 8 571 401 B2 Sheet 11 of 12 Oct 29 2013 U S Patent LL ANO an OO OD UD OD ww wu A an AR EAE ne OP A ne Ou XX xw OM m nn i H 1 4 t 3 1 1 H f 3 3 1 1 ven Old 3148 SALVLS VIVO Ie ah cus V w v Tor 9 lt lt ahs THAI NE qa ds tue Vr NE tn tete dl ata w ty APA HI OQ oN OCH aozi oi w w w a w w La w n H QNVWIAOO 30HS k 9d as SNOLYOINDINWOO 30HS VH3NVO 80 US 8 571 401 B2 Sh
76. t IOC signal based upon an earlier recognition that the camera body wake signal was high in this example at the intermediate level voltage If controller 216 has not already US 8 571 401 B2 15 sent such first IOC signal method 500 proceeds to step 555 wherein the controller generates and transmits that first IOC signal will be seen below relative to FIG 7 in this example step 555 essentially causes the modeling lighting of multifunction lighting system 208 to change almost instanta neously after the leading edge ofthe line voltage begins to rise toward the intermediate level In this example the sending of the first IOC signal at step 555 includes sending to wireless communications device 260 FIG 2 of generator pack 256 the first change level noted in field 440A of GUI 412 After controller 216 sends the first IOC signal at step 555 method 500 proceeds to step 540 so as to continue the looping If at step 550 controller 216 determines that the first IOC signal from step 555 was sent previously since the current camera body wake signal became present method 500 proceeds to step 540 and continues the continual looping If at step 545 controller 216 did not detect a wake signal then method 500 proceeds to step 560 at which the controller detects whether a camera body sleep signal has occurred Ifa camera sleep signal has not occurred method 500 proceeds to step 540 to continue the looping nature of the method In this examp
77. t sent in responseto the detection of first AFA signal When wireless communications device 260 receives this second instruction set as seenby modeling light illumination output curve 708 it initiates via generator pack 256 the first modeling light power level change which is not actually a change since the first power change level had already been set in response to first AFA signal 712 and re sets the communications device s timer to the preset delay value Since in this example controller 216 does not detect another AFA signal within about 5 seconds again the preset delay of second AFA signal 512 after the built in timer of wireless communica tions device 260 times out as seen by modeling light illumi nation output curve 508 the communications device initiates the second power change and changes the output level of the modeling light to the second power change level here 60 In this example after the timer internal to wireless com munications device 260 has timed out from second AFA signal 716 camera body 204 is still awake for a few seconds as indicated by wake signal 704 still being high Camera body 204 may remain awake for example because a user contin ues to hold shutter release button 224 at half press However once controller 216 detects the trailing edge 704B of wakeup signal 704 1 a sleep signal it generates and transmits to wireless communications device 260 a modeling light instruction set containing
78. tection of the first AFA signal When wire less communications device 260 receives this second instruc tion set it initiates the first power level change which is not actually a change since the first power change level had already been set in response to first AFA signal 604 of the modeling light and re sets its internal timerto the preset delay value Since in this example controller 216 does not detect another AFA signal within about 5 seconds again the preset delay of second AFA signal 608 after the built in timer of wireless communications device 260 times out as seen by modeling light illumination output curve 612 this communi cations device initiates the second power change and changes the modeling light output level to the second power change level here 60 Referring now to FIGS 2 4 and 7 timing diagram 700 of FIG 7 is an example for a scenario in which both Wake and AF Assist modes 420 424 are enabled In this example when the controller 216 detects a leading edge 704A of a wake signal 704 it generates and transmits a modeling light instruction set that contains the first power change level When wireless communications device 260 receives that instruction set as illustrated by modeling light illumination output curve 708 it changes via generator pack 256 the mod eling light output level from whatever level it was previously set to here 1096 to the first power change level here 5096 As seen from timing d
79. ter or alternatively to separate RF receiver and transmitter an RF transceiver It is noted that in US 8 571 401 B2 9 yet other embodiments wireless communications may be implemented using another communication technique such as visible light communication e g using a strobe attached to controller 216 and infrared communication among oth ers In this example wireless RF communications among con troller 216 wireless RF communications device 260 of gen erator pack 256 and wireless RF communications device 276 of modeling lighting device 212 includes the ability of each of these devices to distinguish signaling meant for it from sig naling meant for any other device This can be accomplished in any of a variety of ways such as by each device having a unique address and including in each transmission the unique address es of the device s intended to receive a particular transmission Further detail of such signaling techniques is beyond the scope of this disclosure and is not needed for those skilled in the art to implement such techniques since they are known in the art As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate hotshoe 220 has a number of electrical contacts not shown for com municating various signals to and or from an accessory typi cally a flash device or strobe controlling radio mounted to the hotshoe In this example camera body 204 is ofa type that outputs a camera body wake sleep signal s via one of
80. the wakeup mode second power change level here 1596 and the wake mode delay here 2 seconds When wireless communications device 260 receives this instruction set it sets its internal delay timer to 2 seconds When the internal timer times out as seen by modeling light illumination output curve 708 wireless com munications device 260 causes generator pack 256 to change its modeling light output level from the current level here the 6096 level from the second power change of AF Assist mode 424 to the second power change level here 1596 As described above if controller 216 is so enabled after this last transmission it may enter a sleep mode to save power FIG 8 illustrates example circuitry 804 that may be used in for example camera body interface 308 FIG 3 of con troller 216 FIGS 2 and 3 to convert raw camera body wake and AFA signals 808 812 available in this example at hotshoe 220 of camera body 204 to signals suitable for use in microprocessor 300 of the controller In the context of example circuitry 804 camera body wake and AFA signals 808 812 are of the same analog character as the like signals 604 608 704 712 716 of FIGS 6 and 7 above More precisely in this example wake signal 808 is characterized by a rise in voltage from low voltage here to midlevel US 8 571 401 B2 19 voltage here 1 V and autofocus signal 812 is characterized by arisein voltage from the midlevel voltag
81. tive to the camera body and that is used to control func tionality inherent in the camera body itself any lens attached thereto and any image acquisition flash lighting device attached to the camera body or responsive to a flash sync signal generated by the camera body Because the present disclosure is directed to controlling devices starting prior to any image capturing a shutter release signal is excluded from the term camera body signal As those skilled in the art will appreciate the term shutter as used herein and in the appended claims is intended to refer to a mechanical shutter anelectronic shutter and any combination thereof and equiva lent thereto A camera body signal can be generated by a user actuating any type of switch or other actuator mechanical soft or otherwise camera body signal can also be generated by circuitry internal to a camera body in response to any one or more of a variety of events such as a user actuating a switch e g a partial press a k a half press of a shutter release button or a press of an autofocus button or a depth of field preview button and camera body circuitry determining a particular function is needed e g a camera processor deter mining that the lens needs to be autofocused among others Examples ofa camera body signal generated internally within the camera body include but are not limited to a camera body wake signal a camera body sleep signal an autofocus assist s
82. to Office Action 880 761 S Appl No 11 490 322 Sep 15 2010 Notice of Allowance 880 761 S Appl No 12 250 914 Jun 12 2009 Office Action 7 702 228 S Appl No 12 250 914 Jun 29 2009 Response to Office Action and Terminal Disclaimer 7 702 228 S Appl No 12 250 914 Oct 28 2009 Terminal Disclaimer 7 102 228 S Appl No 13 021 951 Feb 13 2012 Withdrawal of Notice of llowance 8 331 776 S Appl No 13 021 951 Feb 22 2012 Office Action 8 331 776 S Appl No 13 253 596 Nov 30 2011 Office Action 8 326 140 S Appl No 13 253 596 Feb 29 2012 Response to Office Action 326 140 S Appl No 13 253 596 May 9 2012 Final Office Action 326 140 S Appl No 12 129 402 19 2010 Notice of Allowance 783 188 Appl 13 208 686 Feb 6 2013 Office Action Appl No 13 208 706 Dec 26 2012 Office Action Appl No 13 183 046 Feb 13 2013 Office Action Appl No 11 305 668 filed Dec 16 2005 7 133 607 Appl No 11 529 203 filed Sep 27 2006 7 362 965 Appl No 12 104 950 filed Apr 17 2008 7 764 875 Appl No 12 843 254 filed Jul 26 2010 8 121 468 Appl No 13 399 333 filed Feb 17 2012 8 351 774 Appl No 13 735 325 filed Jan 7 2013 Appl No 10 306 759 filed Nov 26 2002 7 016 603 Appl No 13 016 345 filed Jan 28 2011 Appl No 11 490 322 filed Jul 20 2006 7 880 761 Appl
83. transmits a shutter opened sig nal 1212 and a shutter closed signal 1216 In this example the remote device controller generates shutter opened signal 1212 as a function of its detection of event 1204A and the known camera body model specific delay between that event and the opening of the shutter The remote device con troller generates shutter closed signal 1216 in response to the trailing edge 1220A of an X sync signal 1220 that is also available on the hotshoe Also in this embodiment the remote device for example any one of devices 912 916 920 924 that is controlled by the remote device controller includes or is otherwise in communication with a receiver such as any one of receiving means 944 948 952 956 that includes a delay timer that executes a predetermined delay 1224 FIG 12 before activating the remote device FIG 12 also includes anin scene event control signal 1228 that controls when state changes occur within the remote device under control of the remote device controller Like many image capture sce narios the image in this example is captured using synchro nized flash lighting device not shown responsive to a wire less flash sync signal 1232 With the components of timing diagram 1200 introduced the synchronization of an in scene event proceeds as follows First a photographer performs a full press on the shutter release button or performs some other shutter releasing function to initiate the capturing of a
84. trolled device here modeling lighting device 212 FIG 2 is turned on when a user turns on the camera body backlighting and is turned off when the user turns off the camera body backlight ing In second sub mode 448B the controlled device is turned off when a user turns on the camera body backlighting and is turned on when the user turns off the camera body backlight ing It is noted that in alternative embodiments each of first and second sub modes 448A B may be provided with power level fields similar to the power level fields of Wake and AF Assist modes 420 424 However in this example modeling lighting device 212 FIG 2 is either switched on or off so no power levels need to be set Rather the on and off signaling from controller 216 to modeling lighting device 212 will be handled properly depending on which sub mode 448A B is selected That is if first sub mode 4484 is selected the soft ware application running on laptop computer 404 configures controller 216 to send an on signal to wireless communica tions device 260 FIG 2 when a user turns on the backlight ing of camera body 204 and to send an off signal to that wireless communications device when the user turns off the camera body backlighting The opposite is true of second sub mode 448B In another alternative in which the power state change is binary i e off on off or on off on GUI 412 may be provided with two power level fields not shown corresponding to the tw
85. uantum FreeWire Transceiver Oct 7 2001 1 to 6 http web archive org web 2001 1007 140624 http www qtm com wireless freewire html last viewed at Internet Archive Apr 25 2008 Rob Galbraith Casting Light on the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 Parts 1 to 5 Feb 16 2009 http www robgalbraith com bins multi_page asp cid 7 9884 9903 last viewed on Jul 12 2012 Robert Hanashiro Equipment Corner News amp Notes for all Those Gear Heads Nov 26 2001 pp 1 3 http www sportsshooter com news story html 1d 594 last viewed on Sep 17 2002 Strobist Blog PocketWizard FlexTT5 and MiniTT1 Full Review Feb 16 18 2009 blog comments pp 1 40 http strobist blogspot com 2009 02 pocketwizard flextt5 and minitt1 full html last viewed on Feb 18 2009 Strobist Blog PocketWizard FlexTT5 and MiniTT1 Full Review Feb 16 2009 pp 1 11 http strobist blogspot com 2009 02 pocketwizard flextt5 and minitt 1 full html lavst viewed on Feb 18 2009 XE 200 RF Shutter Release for Rebel 2000 http zenopuseelectronix com XE 200 html last viewed on Sep 9 2002 U S Appl No 11 305 668 Mar 8 2006 Office Action 7 133 607 U S Appl No 11 305 668 Jun 8 2006 Response to Office Action 7 133 607 U S Appl No 11 305 668 Jun 13 2006 Supplemental Response to Request for Clarification by the Examiner 7 133 607 U S Appl No 11 305 668 Jun 30 2006 Notice of Allowance 7 133 607 U S A
86. ues Referring now to FIGS 6 8 and also to FIGS 2 and 4 FIGS 6 8 illustrate example timing diagrams 600 700 800 for scenarios involving ones ofthe Wake and AF Assist modes 420 424 FIG 4 As mentioned above these diagrams 600 700 800 are for a camera body such as camera body 204 of FIG 2 that communicates wake and autofocus assist signals via common hotshoe contacts as analog voltage signals as opposed to digital data packet signals That said as men tioned above those skilled in the art could readily implement the same sort of control scheme in a digital instruction sig naling environment that uses digital packet signal analogs to the analog voltage signals In timing diagrams 600 700 the settings for Wake mode 420 are first power change level 50 second power change level 15 delay 2 sec US 8 571 401 B2 17 onds and the settings for AF Assist mode 424 are first power change level 8096 second power change level 60 delay 5 seconds These settings are shown on screen 416 of FIG 4 Referring to FIGS 2 4 and 6 timing diagram 600 of FIG 6 is an example in which only AF Assist mode 424 is enabled Inthis example camera body 204 FIG 1 has generated first and second AFA signals 604 608 approximately 2 seconds apart from one another Camera body 204 may generate each AFA signal 604 608 in any number of ways such as in an automatic mode in response to a user performing a half press on shutter release button
87. ustration and not limitation Skilled artisans will understand that given the wide range of technologies available for implementing the overarching functionality disclosed herein there are many ways of imple menting this functionality For example while the various parts of controller 216 are shown as components discrete from one another any two or more of the parts can be inte grated onto a single integrated circuit chip for example as a system on chip Similarly various ones of the differing parts can be integrated with one another For example any memory provided may be partially or completely integrated with for example the microprocessor Further variations include the fact that RF transmitter 320 and corresponding antenna 324 can be replaced by another type of transmitting system such as an infrared or visible light transmitter An analog of the latter is a hotshoe mounted strobe device capable of sending data wireless to a remote strobe device using specially timed pulsed emissions from a flash tube In still further variations the parts of controller 216 provided to enable its functionality externally relative to a camera body such as camera body 204 of FIG 2 can be eliminated and most of the remaining parts adapted for loca tion inside a camera body except perhaps for an antenna strobe or other wireless signal transmitting device In the case of putting the functionality of a controller of the present disclosure such as
88. ut level setting If multiple controlled devices are being controlled at the same time via wireless devices each of these devices may have a unique identifier that a properly config ured system can utilize to implement differing control schemes among the multiple devices Detailed examples of ways of implementing transmitting step 115 are presented below After each controlled device has been set to the first power state at step 110 at step 120 a preset delay is implemented This preset delay determines how long each controlled device will be kept at the first power state before the device will be changed to a second power state Typically the preset delay will beon the order of 1 second to 5 seconds or more depend ingonthe needs ofthe photographer Such preset delay can be set in any suitable manner For example in some embodi ments the preset delay can be set by a photographer or assis tant In other embodiments the preset delay can be set by the manufacturer of the device providing the preset delay The way that step 120 can be accomplished varies for example with the overall system configuration and capability of the controlled device s For example if a particular con trolled device has a built in timer that is wirelessly settable with a delay and the device is able to change its power state when the timer times out on the delay then the transmission 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 of the first
89. ve However in other cases such as in controlling the spray of a fuel injector it is desired to perform a second US 8 571 401 B2 25 state change 1228B that changes the state of the remote device a second time for example to turn off a device that was started by the first state change In this example second state change 1228B is performed in response to shutter closed signal 1216 transmitted by the transmitter of the remote device controller As with first state change 1228A second state change 1228B does not necessarily have to be activated using shutter closed signal 1216 or occur after the shutter has closed For example second state change 1228B could occur in response to shutter opened signal 1212 with or without a timer delay Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that this is simply one example of many variants that those skilled in the art could devise using the present disclosure as a guide It is virtually impossible to detail all such variations that will occur to those skilled in the art without undue experimentation Exemplary embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings It will be under stood by those skilled in the art that various changes omis sions and additions may be made to that which is specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention What is claimed is 1 A method of changing power states of a remote light
90. vent the controller from changing the modeling lighting to an illumination output level unsuit able for assisting autofocusing After controller 216 performs step 535 example method 500 proceeds to step 515 at which the controller determines or knows whether or not Wake mode 420 is enabled If Wake mode 420 is not enabled method 500 proceeds to step 540 at which controller 216 determines or knows Backlight B L mode 428 is enabled However if Wake mode 420 is enabled step 515 at step 545 controller 216 determines whether or not it detects a camera body wake signal In this example as seen further below in connection with FIG 7 the camera body wake signal is an analog signal indicated by an inter mediate level rise in a line voltage on the first pin of hotshoe 220 FIG 2 In this example a high level rise in that line voltage indicates the presence of an AFA signal see FIG 7 and accompanying description When this line voltage is at the intermediate level voltage the camera body wake signal is said to be present Correspondingly a drop in the line voltage from the intermediate level voltage corresponds to a sleep signal If controller 216 detects a camera body wake signal at step 545 method 500 proceeds to step 550 which in this example is implemented because the method is set up to continually loop through the various branches of the method At step 550 controller 216 determines whether or not it has already sent a firs

Systems and methods for changing power states of a remote device

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