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Image capturing device and activation method therefor

1. an angular velocity sensor or the like is used for detecting a change in attitude of the image capturing device 1 Detection with the sensor ofa state in which the image capturing device lisraised by the user and is ready for image capturing system activation is performed For example a system activation process is performed as a background process When receiving from the detecting unit 3 a signal indi cating that the image capturing mode is set the second control unit 45 instructs the power supply voltage generating section 6bto perform power supply to the first control unit 4a and the system configuration unit 5 by sending a signal to the power supply voltage generating section 65 5 After being instructed by the second control unit 45 the power supply voltage generating section 65 initiates supply ing power to the entire system In other words power is supplied to the first control unit 4a and the system configu ration unit 5 6 When the entire system is sufficiently supplied with power each component is operable thus enabling signal transfer between the first control unit 4a and the second control unit 45 and signal transfer between the first control unit 4a and each of the image signal processing section 5a and image display section 55 of the system configuration unit 5 7 When the power supply switch 2a is operated by the user a signal of the operation is transferred to the second control unit 45 The signal is t
2. ATTITUDE CONTACT DETECTION DETECTION ST53 ST50 THRESHOL CONDITION SATISFIED BY DETECTED VALUE D THRESHOL CONDITION SATISFIED BY DETECTED VALUE D NOT i SATISFIED SATISFIED SATISFIED L SATISFIED GENERATE GENERATE INTERRUPTION SIGNAL INTERRUPTION SIGNAL ST55 5752 RESET ARITHMETIC ARITHMETIC PROCESSING SECTION PROCESSING SECTION CANCEL SLEEP MODE CANCEL SLEEP MODE TO STEP STA IN FIG 9 TO STEP STA IN FIG 9 US 8 687 955 B2 1 IMAGE CAPTURING DEVICE AND ACTIVATION METHOD THEREFOR CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U S application Ser No 13 531 967 filed on Jun 25 2012 which is a continua tion of U S application Ser No 12 380 842 filed on Mar 4 2009 which is a continuation of U S application Ser No 11 434 542 filed on May 15 2006 in the U S Patent and Trademark Office which claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No JP 2005 142965 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on May 16 2005 the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a technology used in an image capturing device for enhancing its activating function ality so as not to fail to capture a desired image ofa s
3. arithmetic processing section 17 from the sleep state is per formed In other words the comparator 15 generates an inter ruption signal for the arithmetic processing section 17 whereby its sleep state is canceled This allows the arithmetic processing section 17 in step ST55 to perform processing with a predetermined operating speed The process proceeds to step 514 shown in FIG 9 Although the subsequent processing is as described with reference to FIG 9 in step ST7 the CPU core or the like forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is setto the sleep state before the process returns to step ST50 shown in FIG 16 In FIG 16 for ease of understanding the contact detection and the attitude detection are separately shown but steps 5751 and ST54 are substantially identical in processing and steps ST52 and ST55 are substantially identical in processing Thus for example if in step ST50 the contact detection value satisfies a threshold condition the process may proceed to step ST54 steps ST51 and ST52 are not necessary in this case Although in this example the detection with the electro static sensor that 15 the contact detection is initially per formed this example is not limited to this manner The device attitude detection may initially be performed that is for example in step ST50 the detection data with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold data may be compared with each other and
4. broken line arrow in FIG 7 output by each sensor is sent to the A D converter 14 The data storage section 16 stores in units of sensors threshold data that is written in shipping by using the data writing device 18 The threshold data of each sensor is read and sent to the comparator 15 FIG 15 is a flowchart showing a main part of the example of the system activation process in a case in which the above HIGH SPEED mode is set FIG 15 shows differences from the example of the process described with reference to FIG 8 After a detection signal of each sensor is sent to the second control unit 45 in step ST40 detection data by the electro static sensor and the threshold data from the data storage section 16 are sent and compared with each other in the comparator 15 If the detection data satisfies a condition defined by the threshold data the process proceeds to step 5741 If not the sensor detection value is continuously moni tored In step ST41 detection data data obtained by A D conver sion by the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold data from the data storage section 16 are sent and compared with each other in the comparator 15 Ifthe detection data satisfies a condition defined by the threshold data the process proceeds to step ST42 If not the process returns to step ST40 and the sensor detection data is continu ously monitored In step ST42 processing that is necessary for awaking t
5. controller and a functional section of the device When the 51 Int Cl second controller receives the signal sent from the detecting 51 d Il ives the signal from the d i G03B 7 26 2006 01 section in a power saving state in which power is supplied 52 0 8 from the power supply to the second controller the power USPC subtus 396 303 396 301 348 333 13 Saving state is changed to a power supplying state capable of 58 Field of Classification Search image capturing by supplying power from the power supply USPE Z aa katie 396 301 303 348 333 13 See application file for complete search history to portions of the device including the first controller 22 Claims 16 Drawing Sheets 1 3 CONTACT ATTITUDE i 3b z a DETECTING DETECTINGII t SENSOR SENSOR i 4 i i i P i VOLTAGE i POWER GENERATING SECTION FIRST CONTROL UNIT SUCH AS MICROCOMPUTER IMAGE SIGNAL PROCESSING SECTION L SIGNAL LINE POWER SUPPLY
6. for example in a method for ensuring a state capable of image capturing by continuously supplying power to the sys tem in compensation therefor an increase in power con sumption inevitably shortens a time of driving using a battery This causes a problem in convenience Specifically it is nec essary to carry a charged battery or the like on hand Unlike that as described above in order to monitor detection of contact with the device detection of a device attitude a switch operation etc the device is set to a standby state with minimum necessary power consumption and when it is found that an image capturing mode is set in the device supplying of power to the system is fully initiated to change the device state to a state capable of image capturing In other words the system power is not continuously on so that unnecessary power is prevented from being consumed in a waiting state in which the user does not intend to perform image capturing Thus a power saving effect is sufficiently obtained and in application of an embodiment of the present invention to portable devices a battery life can be extended It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications combinations sub combinations and alterations may occur depending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they are within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof The invention claimed is 1 A portable apparatus hav
7. in step ST53 the detection data with the electrostatic sensor and the threshold data may be compared with each other In any case when the contact detection or the attitude detection indicates that the image capturing mode is set the system activation process is immediately performed Next the 2 1 binarization system is described below In FIG 10 for example the detecting unit 13A includes an electrostatic sensor or angular velocity sensor or an accelera tion sensor An output signal from each sensor is sent to the comparator 15 The data storage section 16 stores in units of sensors threshold data that is written in shipping by using the data writing device 18 The threshold data of each sensor is read and sent to the comparator 15 Alternatively by using the external circuit 19 for the comparator 15 to adjust a constant value for each sensor in shipping each threshold value is set An output of the comparator 15 that is a binary signal is sent to the interruption generating section 20 whereby the arithmetic processing section 17 is interrupted 0 an 5 20 30 40 45 55 20 main part of an example of the system activation process in a case in which the SPEED mode 15 set 15 described below with reference to FIG 15 After the detection signal of each sensor is sent to the second control unit 45 in step ST40 the detection signal with the electrostatic sensor and a signal representing
8. 7 is a block diagram showing a main part of a con figuration example FIG 8 is a flowchart showing an example of an activation process FIG 9 is a flowchart showing a process flow continued from FIG 8 FIG 10 is a block diagram showing a main part of another configuration example FIG 11 is a flowchart showing a main part ofan example of a system activation process concerning the configuration shown in FIG 10 FIG 12 is a block diagram showing a main part of still another example configuration FIG 13 is a flowchart showing a main part ofan example of a system activation process concerning the configuration shown in FIG 12 FIG 14 is an illustration of examples of settings for acti vation FIG 15 is a flowchart showing a main part ofan example of a system activation process in a case in which a high speed mode is set and FIG 16 isa flowchart showing a main part ofan example of a system activation process in a case in which a maximum speed mode is set DETAILED DESCRIPTION In an embodiment of the present invention by immediately controlling power supply when detecting setting of an image capturing mode with a detecting unit such as an electrostatic sensor or angular velocity sensor image capturing can be initiated after necessary processing such as initialization For example at the time a user holds a camera supplying of power to each portion of a camera system and an initializing process are initiated whereby
9. ISYY NII E 319NIS SNOOI jouviN3 V IdINVO NO INVISNIT 319NIS SNOOI 398V INS 1937195 46 NNIN gt NO OLNY HOLVNIADTI JV E S3A3 N34v3M E ANLAN S LYVWS 3qON WOOZ TIONIS lt 3dow av S 919 U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 6 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 6 POWER SUPPLY OPERATION SIGNAL OPERATION SIGNAL OR DETECTION NO SIGNAL DETECTION SIGNAL BACKGROUND PROCESSING CHANGING TO STATE 54 NORMAL PROCESSING CAPABLE OF IMAGE CAPTURING POWER SUPPLY SIGNAL RECEIVED IN PREDETERMINED TIME AWAIT RECEPTION COMPLETION OF OPERATION OF IMAGE SIGNAL PROCESSING SECTION NO TIMEOUT MODE SHUTTER OPERATING SIGNAL RECEIVED IMAGE CAPTURING U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 7 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 7 re a rS MUNERE MT RB RP it al 3b CONTACT ATTITUDE DETECTING DETECTING SENSOR SENSOR A D 14 CONVERTER COMPARATOR INTERRUPTION SIGNAL DATA WRITING ARITHMETIC DATA DEVICE PROCESSING STORAGE IN SHIPPING SECTION SECTION U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 8 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 8 START FROM STEP ST7 IN FIG 9 571 THRESHOLD CONDITION SATISFIED BY DETECTED VALUE NOT SATISFIED CONDITION SATISFIED RESET ARITHMETIC PROCESSING SECTION CANCEL SLEEP MODE TO STEP STA IN FIG 9 U S Pa
10. a threshold value for the detection signal are compared with each other by the comparator 15 If the sensor detection signal satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the process pro ceeds to step 5141 If not the sensor detection signal is continuously monitored Instep ST41 the detection signal with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold value signal are sent and compared with each other in the comparator 15 Ifthe sensor detection value satisfies the condition defined by the threshold value the process proceeds to step ST42 If not the process returns to step ST40 and the detection value is continuously monitored In step 5142 after the binary signal is sent from the com parator 15 to the interruption generating section 20 an inter ruption signal generated by the interruption generating sec tion 20 is sent to the arithmetic processing section 17 whereby its sleep state is canceled This allows the arithmetic processing section 17 in step ST43 to perform processing with a predetermined operating speed The process proceeds to step ST4 shown in FIG 9 Although the subsequent processing is as described with reference to FIG 9 the CPU core or the like forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is setto the sleep state before the process returns to step ST40 shown in FIG 15 In form in which the device attitude detection is initially performed for example in step 5140 the detection
11. capturing instruction has been issued If an image capturing instruction signal has been sentto the system the process proceeds to step 5112 and an image capturing process is initiated Inthe 1 analog system by allowing the system controller to have threshold data flexible determination using software can be performed Accordingly a detected value obtained by the detecting unit 13 can be used for other uses such as image stabilizing In addition the detecting unit 13 does not need to include any communication circuit for communicating with a comparator and the system controller Thus the detecting unit 13 has an advantage in reducing the size of the detecting unit 13 reducing the number of components and reducing an area and space for installation Next the 2 digital system is described below FIG 10 is a block diagram showing a main part of an example configuration 12A of the 2 1 binarization system A detecting unit 13A includes a data storage section 16 and a comparator 15 other than sensors An electrostatic sensor serving as a contact detecting sensor 3a and an angular veloc ity sensor serving as an attitude detecting sensor 35 are used Each sensor output signal is sent to the comparator 15 US 8 687 955 B2 15 The data storage section 16 stores threshold data that is written in shipping by a data writing device 18 The threshold data is read and sent to the comparator 15 The comparator 15 performs comparison operat
12. coe CONSTANT SERIAL SERIAL COMMUNICATION AND INTERRUPTION GENERATING SECTION ARITHMETIC DATA DATA WRITING PROCESSING STORAGE I DEVICE SECTION SECTION IN SHIPPING 17 U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 13 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 13 START FROM STEP 517 IN FIG 9 ST30 THRESHOLD CONDITION SATISFIED BY DETECTED VALUE NOT SATISFIED CONDITION SATISFIED RESET ARITHMETIC PROCESSING SECTION CANCEL SLEEP MODE TO STEP STA IN FIG 9 US 8 687 955 B2 Sheet 14 of 16 Apr 1 2014 U S Patent 39Vd 193135 gt TAVIS INVISNI JIONIS SNOO SOV INA 39Vd 193138 gt LUVIS LNVLSNI 319NIS SNOOI 398V 1N3 NO OLAV 330 330 OLAV HOLVNIWITTII JV S3A3 GIH NYANG E 3NLL 31VO 5 NOOZ 3V U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 15 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 15 START FROM STEP ST7 IN FIG 9 140 THRESHOLD CONDITION SATISFIED BY CONTACT DETECTION VALUE CONDITION SATISFIED ST41 THRESHOLD CONDITION SATISFIED BY ATTITUDE DETECTION VALUE NOT SATISFIED CONDITION SATISFIED RESET ARITHMETIC PROCESSING SECTION CANCEL SLEEP MODE TO STEP STA IN FIG 9 U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 16 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 16 START FROM STEP ST7 IN FIG 9
13. detection value is compared with the threshold value from the data storage section 16 by the arithmetic processing section 17 When the comparison result indicates the start of changing to the image capturing mode the process proceeds to step 5152 or 5155 and the CPU core of the like enters a state capable of performing processing with a predetermined operating speed According to the above described configurations for example the following advantages are obtained Regarding Activating Functionality of System In an image capturing device of the related art it takes a time of approximately one second after pressing a power supply switch to completion of activation even if the image capturing device has fast activating functionality Accord ingly if a user of the device has a moment for capturing an image of a subject that passes instantly a situation in which the user fails to perform image capturing occurs Unlike that as described above by using a sensor such as an electrostatic sensor or angular velocity sensor to detect changing to an image capturing mode and a preparatory operation and acti vating the system of the device in background without informing the user a state in which image capturing can be immediately initiated can be guaranteed As a result a possi bility of missing a shutter release opportunity is decreased Regarding Power Consumption of System It is difficult to reduce a system activation time to zero Thus
14. from the comparator to the serial communication and interruption generating section 22 through the serial communicator 21 This generates an interruption signal for the arithmetic processing section 17 and its sleep state is canceled In step ST55 the arithmetic processing section 17 enters a state capable of performing processing with a predetermined operating speed The pro cess proceeds to step 514 shown in FIG 9 Although the subsequent processing is as described with reference to FIG 9 in step ST7 the CPU core or the like forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is setto the sleep state before the process returns to step ST50 shown in FIG 16 US 8 687 955 B2 23 In a form in which the device attitude detection is initially performed for example in step 5150 the detection value with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold value may be compared with each other and in step ST53 the detection value with the electrostatic sensor and the threshold value may be compared with each other In any case when serial communication is used to find that the image capturing mode is set by the contact detection or the attitude detection the system activation process is immedi ately performed Inthe form that does use the comparator 15 in the detecting unit 13B in steps ST50 and 5153 the detection data of each sensor is sent to the arithmetic processing section 17 through serial communication and each
15. image capturing device 1 can be changed to a state capable of image capturing by activating the system without any difficulty FIGS 2A to 16 show an example in which an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a digital camera or the like FIGS 2A and 2B show as an example of form 1 an example ofa configuration using an electrostatic sensor or the like FIG 2A is a perspective view ofa camera 7 and FIG 2B is a perspective back view of a front portion 8a of a camera housing 8 In this embodiment an image capturing portion 9 is pro vided on the front portion 8a and in the front portion 8a the contact detecting sensor 3a such as an electrostatic sensor is embedded in an area in which user s fingers touch a back side in the image capturing mode In this case it is important to know contact of the user s fingers without false detection In other words excessively enhancing the sensitivity of a sensor IC or the like mistak enly detects approach ofa part of a human body other than the fingers Accordingly it is preferable to lower the sensor sensitivity and it is preferable to broaden a sensor detecting area that is an area for sensing a touch of the user For example an amount of detection electrostatic amount obtained when the user s fingers touch the area is stored and when the amount of un 0 jai 5 20 40 45 50 65 10 detection exceeds a predetermined threshold value it can be dete
16. image capturing mode The detecting unit 3 may have the following forms 0 form using sensor for detecting contact with image cap turing device 1 II form using sensor for detecting change in attitude of image capturing device 1 and III form Using form T and form II At first in form T for example a contact detecting sensor 3a such as an electrostatic sensor is used The contact detect ing sensor 3a detects contact of a user with the image captur ing device 1 and sends a signal ofthe detection to the system controller 4 Excessive detection sensitivity causes a situation in which slight contact with the image capturing device 1 performs power supplying for activation so that the fre quency of false detection increases etc Thus it is preferable to appropriately set the detection sensitivity to ensure contact detection Also in the above form an attitude detecting sensor 35 such as an angular velocity sensor or gyrosensor is used The attitude detecting sensor 35 detects a change in device attitude when the image capturing device 1 is held or moved by the user and sends a signal of the detection to the system con troller 4 Cases to which an embodiment ofthe present inven tion is applied include a form in which not only the angular velocity sensor but also an acceleration sensor is used as a sensor capable of measuring a change in speed and a form in which detection accuracy is enhanced by using a vibration
17. including first control means for controlling image capturing the first control means having a first power con sumption operation means including a switch detecting means for detecting a change to an image capturing mode and for sending a signal representing the change to the image capturing mode second control means for monitoring and processing the signal sent from the detecting means the sec ond control means having a power consumption less than the first power consumption and a power supply for supplying power to the first control means the second control means and a functional section of the image capturing device In the image capturing device a power saving state is changed to a power supplying state capable of image captur ing by supplying power from the power supply to portions of the image capturing device including the first control means when the second control means receives the signal represent ing the change to the image capturing mode from the detect ing means According to another embodiment ofthe present invention there is provided an activation method for an image capturing device having a function of controlling power supplying states including a first power control state capable of image capturing the first power control state having a first power consumption and a second power control state having a power consumption less than the first power consumption The activation method includes in the second power con
18. is generated such that the detection data from the detecting unit 13B is sent to the second control unit 45 through serial com munication Thus the second control unit 45 can operate in a state power saving mode having low power consumption As described above in the 1 analog system in compari son between the detecting unit and the second control unit 45 the configuration ofthe detecting unit is simplified In the 2 digital systems the configuration of the second control unit 4b is simplified Next form III that is the configuration for enhancing detection accuracy by combining detection of contact with the device and detection of a change in attitude of the device is described below For example when an electrostatic sensor detects contact of fingers with a camera body and an angular velocity sensor detects as a change in velocity a change in attitude in holding the camera it is determined that the image capturing mode is set and the system activation process is performed FIG 14 shows a setting method example concerning sys tem activation Examples of screens are shown in portions A to H of FIG 14 In this setting method example as setting items concerning three types of mode INSTANT START NORMAL HIGH SPEED MAXIMUM SPEED selectable Portions A to C are similar to those in FIG 5 In each of portions C and D for the item INSTANT START a NORMAL mode is s
19. process described with reference to FIG 8 After the detection signal of each sensor is sent to the second control unit 45 in step ST50 the detection data data obtained by A D conversion with the electrostatic sensor and US 8 687 955 B2 19 the threshold data from the data storage section 16 are sent and compared with each other in the comparator 15 If the detection data satisfies a condition defined by the threshold data the process proceeds to step ST51 If not the process proceeds to ST53 In step 5751 processing that is necessary for awaking the arithmetic processing section 17 from the sleep state is per formed In other words the comparator 15 generates an inter ruption signal for the arithmetic processing section 17 whereby its sleep state is canceled This allows the arithmetic processing section 17 in step ST52 to perform processing with a predetermined operating speed The process proceeds to step 514 shown in FIG 9 In step ST53 the detection data data obtained by A D conversion with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold data from the data storage section 16 are sent and compared with each other in the comparator 15 If the detection data satisfies a condition defined by the threshold data the process proceeds to step ST54 If not the process returns to step 5750 and the sensor detection value is continuously monitored In step ST54 processing that is necessary for awaking the
20. shown in FIG 4 In other words user s entering the image capturing by holding the camera 7B is detected as a change in speed caused by a change in attitude that is acceleration The configuration is not limited to the use of the triaxial sensor but a biaxial angular velocity sensor or the like may be used In addition an angular velocity sensor and acceleration sensor for detecting motion blurring may also be used The more the number of axes for detection is the higher accuracy the detection can have However considerations such as reserving an installation space and an increase in cost are necessary Next an example of settings concerning system activation is described in accordance with examples of screens shown in portions A to G of FIG 5 Although applying an embodi ment of the present invention is irrelevant to a system activa tion setting method places for settings etc In the following examples a case in which a new item hereinafter referred to as INSTANT START is added to a setting screen displayed on a display portion is described below Portion A of FIG 5 shows a screen displayed at the time of changing to a setup screen A range indicated by the broken line rectangle indicates an item being presently selected by a user When the user uses an operation portion see for example the operation portion 11 shown in FIG 3B such as a cross key to perform a downward operation a selected position of an
21. when the power supply instruction is not issued at timeout the pro cess proceeds to step ST7 Determination concerning the operation signal from the power supply switch is performed until the set time passes Instep ST7 the CPU coreorthe like forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is set to the sleep state After that the process returns to step STI in FIG 8 On the condition that as shown in step ST8 when the power supply switch is operated an external interruption signal is generated to return the arithmetic processing section 17 to a state capable of processing with the predetermined operating speed in step ST9 the system activation process is normally performed in accordance with the power supply instruction this process is similar to that in the related art before the process proceeds to step 5110 In step 5110 the operation of the system configuration unit for example the image signal processing section 5a is completed A backlight or the like included in the image display section 55 emits light to display a screen It takes almost no time from the time the power supply switch is performed in step ST6 until the process proceeds to step ST10 In other words instantly after the user operates the power supply switch image capturing preparation 1s estab lished The process proceeds to step ST11 and in step 5111 on the basis of an operation on the shutter release button it is determined whether or not an image
22. 006 Ohsuga et al Minolta Maxxum Dynax 3xi Instruction Manual 1991 Part 1 7 283 738 B2 10 2007 Ohsuga et al Minolta Maxxum Dynax 3xi Instruction Manual 1991 Part 2 1 AA em ky al eee 348 352 Nikon Digital Camera E 300 CoolPix 300 User s Manual 8498 531 B2 7 2013 Sakurai c 396 303 Office Action from European Search Report EP 06252534 dated 2003 0063073 Al 4 2003 Geaghan et al Dec 2 2011 2003 0081142 1 5 2003 Iijima 348 372 Sony Clie Handbook 2003 2003 0199995 Al 10 2003 Ishii et al 2004 0201772 Al 10 2004 Kobayashi cited by examiner US 8 687 955 B2 Sheet 1 of 16 Apr 1 2014 U S Patent r 3 lt INT IWNOIS 7 Pa c lr ey co 4 SNILVH3N39 39V L 10A NOLLO3S l NOILO3S 39VMI LINN YALNdNOOONDIN SY HONS c 1981405 LINN TOH1NOO QINOOJS 1543 NOILOSS 9NISS30903d ec IWNSIS 914 U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 2 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 3 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 3A U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 4 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 4 US 8 687 955 B2 Sheet 5 of 16 Apr 1 2014 U S Patent 39Vd 193138 gt 39Vd 199135 gt 39Vd 193138 gt E kd E E TWWYON LYVLS LNVLSNI 1391 LNVLSNI 3IONIST SNOJ
23. 5 Ifthe detection data satisfies a condition defined by the threshold data the process pro ceeds to step ST2 If not the detection is continuously moni tored In step ST2 the comparator 15 generates an interruption signal for the arithmetic processing section 17 and in the next step the sleep state is canceled In other words the 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 process proceeds to step ST3 and a state in which the arith metic processing section 17 can perform processing with a predetermined operating speed The process proceeds to step STA In step ST4 it is determined whether or not the operation signal from the power supply switch has been sent to the second control unit 45 If the operation signal has not been sent the process proceeds to step 515 If the operation signal has been sent the process proceeds to step ST9 In step ST5 supplying power to the system controller and the system configuration unit initialization etc is initiated so as not to be noticed by the user background processing device becomes ready for image capturing within a pre determined time and the process proceeds to step ST6 In step ST6 it is determined whether or not an operation on the power supply switch has been performed within a prede termined time When a power supply instruction is issued before a predetermined set time passes the process proceeds to step 5110 Even if the set time has passed
24. 7 955 B2 17 tem FIG 13 shows only differences from the example of the process described concerning the 1 analog system In step ST30 for example the sensor detection value and the threshold value are compared by the comparator 15 If the sensor detection value satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the process proceeds to step ST31 If not the sensor detection value is continuously monitored In step ST31 the comparator 15 interrupts the arithmetic processing section 17 through the serial communicator 21 and the sleep state is canceled in the arithmetic processing section 17 This allows the arithmetic processing section 17 in step ST32 to be in a state capable of performing processing with a predetermined operating speed The subsequent processing is as described with reference to FIG 9 After the CPU core or the like forming the arith metic processing section 17 is set to the sleep state in step ST7 the process returns to step ST30 in FIG 13 Since in this system serial data communication is used for information transfer between the detecting unit 13B and the second control unit 45 this system has advantages such as ability to transmit and receive a more amount of information compared with the 2 1 binarization system Accordingly also an arithmetic processing section using a CPU or the like can re compare data Thus flexible responses are possible concerning sensor recognition In addition an interruption
25. PU core or the like forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is setto the sleep state before the process returns to step ST40 shown in FIG 15 Although in this example the detection with the electro static sensor or the contact detection is initially performed a detection manner is not limited to this example By initially performing the device attitude detection for example in step ST40 the detection value with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold value may be compared and in step STA1 the detection value with the electrostatic sensor and the threshold value may be compared In any case serial communication is used to ensure deter mining that the image capturing mode is set by the contact detection and the attitude detection and the system activation process is performed In a form that does use the comparator 15 in the detecting unit 13B in steps ST40 and 5141 the detection data of each sensor is sent to the arithmetic processing section 17 through serial communication whereby the arithmetic processing section 17 is interrupted In the arithmetic processing section 17 each detection value is compared with the threshold value from the data storage section 16 When the comparison result indicates the start of changing to the image capturing mode the process directly proceeds from step ST41 to step ST43 and the CPU core or the like enters a state capable of per forming processing with a pre
26. START needs to be set to ON by pressing a center portion determination button of the cross key the screen displayed in portion G of FIG 5 is displayed and the setting operation finishes These consecutive operations can set the item INSTANT START to be enabled ON Although in this example in selecting INSTANT START its enabling or disabling is displayed with a name of ON or OFF obviously the name settings etc can be freely altered in accordance with an application design In addition to a form in which item setting is performed on the setup screen enabling in various configurations is possible such as a configuration provided with a dedicated toggle button and a configuration in which by providing a contact detecting unit such as a touch panel on a display surface a desired item can be selected on a screen by the user FIG 6 is a flowchart illustrating the system activating process In step S1 it is determined whether or not an operation signal from a power supply switch or a detection signal from a contact detecting sensor or attitude detecting sensor has been sent to the system see the second control unit 45 in FIG 1 Ifthe operation signal or the detection signal has been sent the process proceeds to step S2 or S4 If not monitoring the operation signal or the detection signal is continued this state corresponds to the control state 2S and the power saving mode is set Whe
27. US 8 687 955 B2 Page2 56 References Cited 2004 0240867 Al 12 2004 Hara 396 55 2005 0219228 A1 10 2005 Alameh et al U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 2005 0228320 Al 10 2005 Klinghult 2006 0022955 1 2 2006 Kennedy 345 173 4 827 347 5 1989 Bell 2006 0092010 AI 5 2006 Simon et al 5 008 497 4 1991 Asher 2006 0202925 AI 9 2006 Manning et al 5 287 138 2 1994 Shiokama et al 2007 0030137 Al 2 2007 Masters et al 5 701 527 12 1997 Sakabe et al 2007 0086764 Al 4 2007 Konicek 5 708 882 1 1998 Yokonuma et al 2007 0257890 Al 11 2007 Hotelling etal 345 173 5 729289 A 3 1998 Etoh 2008 0278454 Al 11 2008 Lee et al 5 845 161 12 1998 Schrock et al 5 900 856 A 5 1999 Iino et al FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 923 908 7 1999 Schrock etal 396 85 5 949 484 9 1999 Nakayaetal 348 384 1 JP 2000 209485 A 7 2000 6 016 407 A 1 2000 Tsukahara 396 302 JP 2000 333055 A 11 2000 6 148 148 A 11 2000 Wain et al JP 2002 290802 A 10 2002 6 298 197 B1 10 2001 Wain et al JP 2003 274640 9 2003 6 459 424 10 2002 Resman JP 2004 005320 A 1 2004 6 492 979 12 2002 Kent et al JP 2004 120204 A 4 2004 6 519 419 B2 2 2003 Shimada et al JP 2005 072808 A 3 2005 6 558 050 5 2003 Ishibashi JP 2006 162974 A 6 2006 6 628 336 B2 9 2003 Hamamura 6 888 574 Bl 5 2005 Asakura OTHER PUBLICATIONS 7 102 626 B2 9 2006 Denny III 7 123 829 B2 10 2
28. aid control units has a variably controllable operating frequency and controls the image capturing operation in the first operational state and said operating frequency can be lowered so that power con sumption of said at least one of the control units can be lower than other of said control units that control opera tion other than the image capturing operation 2 portable apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a detecting unit including one or a plurality of sensors of a touch sensor an angular velocity sensor a gyro sensor an acceleration sensor a vibration sensor and an elec trostatic sensor in addition to said image sensor 3 A portable apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first signal is based on the output of one ora plurality of the sensors of the same type or sensors of different types 4 A portable apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first signal is based on the output of one or a plurality ofthe sensors and at least one ofthe sensors is set to use a threshold in detection in order to provide an appropriate sensitivity 5 A portable apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first signal is based on the output of one or a plurality ofthe sensors and at least part of at least one of the sensor s detecting result is usable in other function of the portable apparatus 6 A portable apparatus of claim 1 wherein said second signal represents a certain touch operation 7 portable apparatus of claim 1 wherein transmitting form
29. aimer the term of this FOREIGN PATEN DOCUMENTS patent is extended or adjusted under 35 CN 1571457 A 1 2005 U S C 154 b by 0 days CN 1571475 A 1 2005 Continued 21 Appl No 13 761 935 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 22 Filed Feb 7 2013 English Translation of Chinese Office Action Serial No 200610078238 1 65 Prior Publication Data Continued US2013 018019 A Jun 13 2013 Primary Examiner Clayton E Laballe Assistant Examiner Warren K Fenwick T 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Lerner David Littenberg Related U S Application Data Krumholz amp Mentlik LLP 63 Continuation of application No 13 531 967 filed on 57 ABSTRACT Jun 25 2012 which is a continuation of application p n No 12 380 842 filed on Mar 4 2009 now Pat No An image capturing device includes a first controller operable 8 254777 which iS aen GUN tion of application No to control image capturing an operation section including a 11 i 434 5 42 filed on May 15 2006 now Pat No switch a detector operable to detect a change to an image 7 519 289 Xs dro capturing mode and to send a signal representing the change second controller operable to monitor and process the sent 30 Foreign Application Priority Dat signal the second controller having a power consumption 30 SESS less than that of the first controller and a power supply 16 2005 s 2005 142965 Operable to supply power to the first controller the second
30. by the power supply switch is not performed or the signal from the detecting unit 3 which represents the change in mode to the image capturing mode is not received 1S automatically changes into 2S In other words by shutting off supplying the power to the first control unit 4a and the system configuration unit 5 1S changes into the power saving state 25 For brevity of description in only 15 the image capturing can be performed However in application to a configuration form in which a power saving effect can be set in stages or continuously by operating frequency control or device power supplying control the power control state can be divided depending on the level of the power consumption Specifically 1S can be divided into two or more classes Although in this embodiment a configuration in which the operation signal with the power supply switch 2a is sent and processed in the second control unit 45 has been described the embodiment of the present invention can be practiced in various configurations such as a configuration in which the operation signal from the power supply switch 2a is sent and processed in the first control unit 4a Next an example of a power supply control sequence of the image capturing device 1 is described below with it divided into the following three cases a case A in which after detecting that the image capturing mode is set the power supply switch 2a is operated by the user to initiate image capt
31. ccord ing to a result of the output of one or a plurality of said sensors wherein said processor is to control said portable apparatus to 1 change its operational state from the first opera tional state to a monitoring state and 2 reduce power consumption of said display when there is not a second signal detected in a predetermined period and wherein said operating frequency can be lowered so that power consumption of said at least one of the control units can be lower than other of said control units that control operation other than the image capturing opera tion 10 A processor of claim 9 wherein said processor is formed in a single chip 11 A processor of claim 9 wherein said processor is formed with a plurality of said control units on a single chip 12 processor of claim 9 wherein said processor controls power supply to said one or plurality of components 20 25 26 13 A processor of claim 9 wherein said processor further comprises a data storage section 14 processor of claim 9 wherein said processor further comprises a comparator 15 processorofclaim 9 wherein said processor supports sensors of at least one of a touch sensor an angular velocity sensor a gyro sensor an acceleration sensor a vibration sen sor and an electrostatic sensor in addition to said image sensor 16 A processor of claim 9 wherein said background pro cessing includes initializing processing 17 processor of clai
32. ch for example a battery primary battery or secondary battery a fuel cell or the like is used and a power supply voltage generating section 65 such as a DC DC converter for generating a power supply voltage necessary for each circuit are provided irrespective of the circuit configuration of the power supply 6 The power sup ply voltage generating section 65 supplies power to each circuit through power supply lines In this embodiment when the power supply 6a supplies power to the power supply voltage generating section 65 ina state in which a battery pack or the like is installed in the image capturing device 1 power supply from the power supply voltage generating section 65 to the second control unit 45 can be immediately performed The second control unit 45 has power consumption less than that ofthe first control unit 4a This is because since the second control unit 45 handles monitoring and processing the operation signal and the detection signal unnecessary power consumption is prevented in a standby state before image capturing When for example a microcomputer is used as the second control unit 45 a consumption current is set to hun dred microamperes or less Unlike that an arithmetic operation unit having a fixed operating frequency or an arithmetic operation unit in which power control can be performed by variably controlling an operating frequency is used as the first control unit 4a When acceleration of processin
33. ct or change in attitude or disturbance such as noise occurs Data represent ing the result or the sensor detection data is transmitted from the serial communicator 21 to the serial communication and interruption generating section 22 Various types of formats SIO UART 12C etc may be used for a serial communi cation format In a form in which the detecting unit 13B includes the comparator 15 when the serial communication and inter ruption generating section 22 receives for example the sig nal representing the start of changing to the image capturing mode the arithmetic processing section 17 is interrupted to cancel its sleep state whereby the CPU core or the like is in a state capable of performing processing with a predetermined operating speed Ina form in which the second control unit 45 includes the data storage section 16 when the serial communication and interruption generating section 22 receives the sensor detec tion data an interruption is generated allowing the arithmetic processing section 17 to compare the sensor detection value and the threshold value from the data storage section 16 result when it is determined that changing to the image capturing mode is started the CPU core or the like is in a state capable of performing processing with a predetermined oper ating speed FIG 13 is a flowchart showing a main part ofan example of the system activation process concerning the 2 2 serial sys US 8 68
34. ctivation after pressing the power supply switch is no more than approximately one second even if the activation is fast so that it is difficult to capture an image ofa subject or the like passing in a moment This is because it is difficult to reduce the activation time to zero in an actual device To prevent the user from missing the shutter release opportunity the system power needs to be continuously on or the device needs to be in a suspend state The suspend state means state in which although an operation ofa control unit such as a CPU central processing unit is stopped the power of each portion of the system is on As described above to reduce the activation time close to Zero an increase in power consumption is extremely impor tant and necessary in compensation for the reduction There fore when a battery driven portable device is used it is nec essary for a user to carry many charged batteries or to use a mass storage battery In a digital camera or the like a device power saving function is important for capturing as many images as possible Thus shortening of the activation time and the need of power saving conflict with each other Accordingly it is desirable to satisfy both an improvement in activating functionality and power saving in an image capturing device SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To solve the above problems according to an embodiment ofthe present invention there is provided an image capturing device
35. determined operating speed In the example of the system activation process in the case in which the MAXIMUM SPEED mode is set in FIG 16 at first the detection signal ofeach sensoris sentto the second control unit 45 In step 5150 for example the detection signal with the electrostatic sensor and the threshold value signal are com pared by the comparator 15 If the sensor detection value satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the pro cess proceeds to step ST51 If not the process proceeds to step ST53 In step 5151 the signal is sent from the comparator to the serial communication and interruption generating section 22 through the serial communicator 21 whereby an interrup tion signal is generated for the arithmetic processing section 17 and its sleep state is canceled In step ST53 the arithmetic processing section 17 enters a state capable of performing processing with a predetermined operating speed The pro cess proceeds to step 514 shown in FIG 9 Instep ST53 the detection signal with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration signal and the threshold value signal from the data storage section 16 are sent and compared with each other in the comparator 15 Ifthe sensor detection value satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the pro cess proceeds to step ST54 If not the process returns to step ST50 and the sensor detection value is continuously moni tored In step ST54 the signal is sent
36. e system is being acti vated in this state Accordingly when the power supply operation is not performed or the signal from the detecting unit 3 that represents a change in mode to the image capturing mode is not set the present state is changed to the above 2S power saving state For example in cases such as when a detection signal representing a touch of the user on the image capturing device 1 is not sent to the second control unit 45 during a predetermined time power to the first control unit 4a US 8 687 955 B2 9 and the system configuration unit 5 is shut off without any explicit operation instruction For example supplying of power to the portions of the system excluding the second control unit 45 is stopped in the background processing with out notifying the user In this state under the control of the second control unit 45 the image capturing device 1 is set in a mode that monitors an operation signal and a detection signal The power consumption is at a minimum level that is necessary for processing by the second control unit 45 After that when a touch of the user on the image capturing device 1 that is the image capturing mode in being set in the image capturing device 1 the process proceeds from step 3 to step 4 and thereafter In case C for example when a state in which the user touches the image capturing device 1 and a state in which the user presses the power supply switch occur simultaneously or approxi
37. e while using as a start point the time the change to the image capturing mode is detected both an improvement in activating functionality and power saving can be achieved For example after changing to a power supplying state capable of image capturing when a power supplying opera tion is not performed or a signal representing a change to an image capturing mode is not detected by shutting off power supplied to the first power control means to change to the power saving state power consumption in the standby state can be reduced In other words after changing to the first power control state when a power supplying operation is not performed or a signal representing a change to an image capturing mode is not detected by determining that there is no intention of image capturing or a high probability of no intention it is preferable to change to the second power con trol state power saving state In addition according to a configuration in which a sensor for detecting contact with a device is provided as the detecting means for detecting the change to the image capturing mode when it is detected as a preliminary image capturing step that the image capturing device is touched by a user the device can be changed to the first power control state Alternatively according to a configuration in which a sensor for detecting a change in the attitude ofa body ofthe device is provided as the detecting means when it is detected as a prel
38. et The user performs a right directional operation in a state in which the cursor is positioned in the item INSTANT START as shown in portion D of FIG 14 whereby as shown in portion E for the INSTANT START one of three modes becomes selectable Since in this setting method example the NORMAL mode has been set by performing a downward directional operation with a cross key or the like as shown in portion F of FIG 14 the user can position the cursor on a HIGH SPEED mode By further performing the downward directional operation as shown in portion G of FIG 14 the user can position the cursor on a MAXIMUM SPEED mode After that by confirming the selected item that is pressing the center part determination button of the cross key or the kah 0 a 5 20 30 35 40 45 65 18 like the screen is changed to the screen shown in portion H of FIG 14 and the setting operation finishes The above consecutive operations enable the INSTANT START to be set to a desired mode Next an example configuration in which the 1 analog system and the 2 digital systems are applied to form IIT is described below At first the configuration form of the form I is described below In FIG 7 for example the detecting unit 13 includes an electrostatic sensor and an angular velocity sensor or an acceleration sensor and an analog signal indicated by the
39. et by the contact detection or attitude detection the system activation process is immediately performed Next the form ofthe 2 2 serial system is described below In FIG 12 for example the detecting unit 13B includes an electrostatic sensor and angular velocity sensor or an accel eration sensor An output signal of each sensor is sent to the comparator 15 or is sent to the arithmetic processing section 17 through serial communication The data storage section 16 stores in units of sensors threshold data that is written in shipping by using the data writing device 18 Threshold data of each sensor is read and sent to the arithmetic processing section 17 Alternatively by using the external circuit 19 for the comparator 15 to adjust a constant value for each sensor each threshold value is set The output signal of the comparator 15 is sent to the serial communication and interruption generating section 22 included in the second control unit 45 through the serial communicator 21 An interruption signal generated by the serial communicator 21 is sent to the arithmetic processing section 17 Alternatively detection data from the detecting unit 13B is transmitted and compared with the threshold value from the data storage section 16 in the arithmetic processing section 17 In the example of the system activation process in the case in which the HIGH SPEED mode is set in FIG 15 the detection signal of each sensor is sent to the sec
40. g or the like is preferentially per formed the power consumption of the first control unit 4a increases than that of the second control unit 4b In other words if the image capturing device 1 is set ina mode capable of image capturing at all times by performing a power supply operation by the user to supply power to the first and second control units 4a and 45 and the system configuration unit 5 a situation in which the user misses a shutter release oppor tunity can be avoided However power consumption in the above case is large thus shortening a time in which the image capturing device 1 can be battery driven Accordingly in the standby state before image capturing by supplying power from the power supply 6a to the second control unit 45 having less power consumption a power saving effect can be obtained In an embodiment of the present invention in a power saving mode in which power is supplied from the power supply 6a to the power supply voltage generating section 65 when the second control unit 45 receives from the detecting unit 3 a signal representing a change in mode to the image capturing mode the power supply 6 supplies powerto the first control unit 4 and the system configuration unit 5 and the power saving mode subsequently changes to a power supply ing state capable of image capturing Specifically power con trol states of the image capturing device 1 include at least the following states a first power control
41. he arithmetic processing section 17 from the sleep state is per formed In other words the comparator 15 generates an inter ruption signal for the arithmetic processing section 17 whereby its sleep state is canceled This allows the arithmetic processing section 17 in step ST43 to perform processing with a predetermined operating speed The process proceeds to step ST4 shown in FIG 9 subsequent processing is as described with reference to FIG 9 After in step ST7 the CPU coreor the like forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is set to the sleep state the process returns to step ST40 shown in FIG 15 In this example the detection with the electrostatic sensor that is contact detection is initially performed In addition to that device attitude detection may initially be performed For example in step ST40 the detection data with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold data may be compared with each other and in step ST41 the detection data with the electrostatic sensor and the threshold data may be compared with each other Inany case the contact detection and the attitude detection ensure determining that the image capturing mode is set and the system activation is performed FIG 1615 a flowchart showing a main part of an example of the system activation process in a case in which the above MAXIMUM SPEED mode is set FIG 16 shows differ ences from those in the example of the
42. he sleep state the process returns to step ST20 in FIG 11 In the sleep state the power consumption is low since only the interrup tion generating section 20 operates in the second control unit 4b FIG 12 is a block diagram showing a main part of an example configuration 12B in the 2 2 serial system Differences from the configuration shown in FIG 10 are described below A detecting unit 13B includes a serial communicator 21 at a stage after a comparator 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 16 A second control unit 46 includes a serial communication and interruption generating section 22 for exchanging infor mation with the serial communicator 21 In a configuration in which an arithmetic processing sec tion 17 compares detection data sent as serial data from the detecting unit 13B with threshold data stored in a data storage section 16 the data storage section 16 is included in a second control unit 45 and in shipping a data writing device 18 is used to write the threshold data or the like in the data storage section 16 For example a comparator 15 in the detecting unit 13B is not necessary and a sensor detection signal is sent to the second control unit 45 through the serial communicator 21 In this example the data storage section 16 for storing the threshold data may be provided in the detecting unit 13A similarly to FIG 10 For brevity of description FIG 12 shows both a configuration in w
43. hich the data storage section 16 for storing the threshold data is provided in the second control unit 45 and a configuration in which a threshold value is set by adjusting in shipping a constant value set for the com parator 15 by an external circuit 19 In a form that uses both comparison using the comparator 15 in the detecting unit 13B and comparison performed by the arithmetic processing sec tion 17 using the data storage section 16 Implementation of double determination can enhance reliability and is useful in verifying a determination result and backing up the compari son for example when the comparator 15 malfunctions The comparator 15 or the arithmetic processing section 17 performs comparison operations between the sensor detec tion value and the threshold data When the result of the comparison indicates that the sensor output value satisfies a condition represented by the threshold data it is recognized that for example the user touches a predetermined area of a camera or changing to the image capturing mode is initiated such that the user holds the camera Data representing the recognition result or the sensor detection data is transmitted from the serial communicator 21 to the serial communica tion and interruption generating section 22 Ifthe sensor out put value does not satisfy the condition represented by the threshold data it is determined that the image capturing mode is not set or temporary or accidental conta
44. ime from the time the power supply switch is performed in step S3 until changing to step S5 is 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 performed In other words instantly after the user operates the power supply switch image capturing preparation is established Processing to step S6 it is determined whether or not an image capturing instruction signal has been sent to the sys tem by pressing a shutter release button If the image captur ing instruction signal has been sent to the system the process proceeds to step S7 and an image capturing process is initi ated When in step S1 both the operation signal from the power supply switch and the detection signal from the sensor are approximately simultaneously input for example the opera tion signal from the power supply switch is preferentially used and the process proceeds to S4 This example has a feature in processing path proceeding from step 51 in the order of steps S2 S3 and S5 In a configuration of the related art even if in step S1 the power supply switch is operated so as not to miss capturing an image ofa subject it is difficult for the process to proceed to step S5 unless the waiting time in step S4 passes Accordingly a situation in which a shutter release opportunity is missed during that time occurs Next an example of a configuration in which a signal detected by using an electrostatic sensor or angular velocity sensor concerning cha
45. iminary image capturing step that the image capturing device is held or moved by the user the device can be changed to the first power control state Furthermore by employing a detecting form that is a combination of these sensors detection accu racy can sufficiently be enhanced In order to obtain a power saving effect in a standby state in which image capturing is not performed it is preferable that when the second control means receives a signal representing a change to an image capturing mode from detecting means a power supply instruction signal be sent from the second control means to a power supply after a resting state of the second control means is canceled BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a basic configuration of an image capturing device according to an embodiment of the present invention FIGS 2A and 2B are perspective views showing contact detection in a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention FIGS 3A and 3B are illustrations of a different example of the contact detection in camera according to an embodiment of the present invention 0 a 5 20 30 40 45 55 65 4 FIG 4 is an illustration of attitude detection in a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention FIG 5 is an illustration of examples of screens for activa tion settings FIG 6 is a flowchart showing a system activating process FIG
46. indicator 1con on a left tool bar downwardly moves and the screen displayed in portion B of FIG 5 is displayed In part of the screen on the right side of the indicator the item INSTANT START is displayed When the user uses the operation portion such as the cross key to perform a right directional operation while intend ing to select INSTANT START as shown in portion C of FIG 5 the item ENLARGE ICONS at the top of a main part of the screen is selected However what the user intends to selectis not the item Accordingly by using the cross key to perform a downward operation as shown in portion D of FIG 5 the cursor is moved to the item INSTANT START this item is set to NORMAL in this example US 8 687 955 B2 11 When the user operates the right directional operation in a state in which the cursor is positioned at the item INSTANT START as shown in portion E of FIG 5 it can be selected whether to enable see ON in portion E of FIG 5 or disable see OFF in portion E of FIG 5 the setting of INSTANT START Since in this example the item has been set to OFF the user uses the cross key to perform the downward operation In this operation as shown in portion F of FIG 5 the setting can be enabled that is the cursor can be positioned at ON When the user intends to confirm the selected item that is the item INSTANT
47. ing a function of image captur ing comprising a processor including one or a plurality of control units key 5 20 30 35 40 45 55 65 24 a plurality of types of sensors including an image sensor said sensors having respective outputs of multiple types capable of being input to said processor a display configured to display an image based on an image signal from said image sensor and a power supply unit to supply power to said processor said sensors and said display wherein said portable apparatus is operable in a plurality of powered operational states including a first operational state and a second operational state an image capturing operation being performable in the first operational state wherein said portable apparatus changes its operational state from the second operational state to the first opera tional state and said power supply unit supplies power to one or a plurality of components of the portable appara tus including said image sensor when receiving a first signal representing an activation of the image capturing operation in the second operational state according to a result of the output of one or a plurality of said sensors wherein said portable apparatus changes its operational state from the first operational state to a monitoring state and reduces power consumption of said display when there is not a second signal detected in a predetermined period and wherein at least one of s
48. ions between a sensor detection signal and a signal representing the threshold data As a result when the sensor detection value satisfies a condition represented by the threshold data it is recognized that for example the user touches a predeter mined area of a camera or changing to the image capturing mode is initiated such that the user holds the camera A binary signal e g an H level signal representing the result of the recognition is output to the second control unit 45 When the sensor detection value does not satisfy the condition repre sented by the threshold data it is determined that the image capturing mode is not set or temporary or accidental contact or change in attitude or disturbance such as noise occurs A binary signal e g an L level signal representing the signal is output to the second control unit 45 In addition to the configuration using the data storage sec tion 16 for storing the threshold data there is for example a configuration in which a threshold value is set by adjusting in shipping a constant value set for the comparator 15 by an external circuit 19 In FIG 10 both configurations are shown for brevity of description A second control unit 45 includes an interruption generat ing section 20 and an arithmetic processing section 17 such as a CPU core or ASIC An output signal of the comparator 15 that is a binarized signal is sent to the interruption gen erating section 20 When the interr
49. it takes almost no waiting time after operating a power supply switch until operating a shutter release button This can prevent occurrence of a situation in which the user misses a shutter release opportunity An embodiment of the present invention is widely applicable to still cameras and camcorders or to various types of image capturing devices that can capture still and moving images FIG 1 shows an example of a basic configuration of an image capturing device according to an embodiment of the present invention An image capturing device 1 includes an operation unit 2 including power supply switches and a detecting unit 3 using an electrostatic sensor an angular velocity sensor etc Sig nals sent from these sensors are sent and processed in a system controller 4 The operation unit 2 includes various types of operation buttons and switches provided on the image capturing device 1 In FIG 1 only power supply switches 2a and 25 are shown An operation signal from a power supply switch or a power switch serves as a trigger signal for supplying power When an embodiment of the present invention is applied to for example a digital still camera the number of power supply switches is not limited to one depending on a configuration form but there is a system including a plurality of power supply switches In this embodiment two switches are shown US 8 687 955 B2 5 The detecting unit 3 is provided to detect a chanee in mode to an
50. le to sufficiently lower the operating frequency or it is preferable to set the CPU core or ASIC to the sleep state or a resting state so that power consumption is set to a value close to almost zero However since it is not allowed to stop supplying power to the A D converter 14 the comparator 15 and the data storage section 16 minimum power at which comparison operations between data converted by the A D converter 14 and the threshold data read from the data storage section 16 is guaranteed is consumed at all times In other words the second control unit 4b consumes only minimum necessary power in its standby state and when the second control unit 45 receives a signal representing changing to the image capturing mode from the detecting unit 13 the second control unit 45 cancels its resting state and sends a power supply instruction signal to a power supply By performing an intermittent operation to such an extent that detection is prevented from failing the power consumption can be reduced FIGS 8 and 9 are flowcharts showing an example of a system activation process concerning the 1 analog system At first in step 5711 in FIG 8 after an analog signal is sent from the detecting unit 13 to the A D converter 14 a digital signal obtained in conversion by the comparator 15 is sent to the comparator 15 In addition threshold data is sent from the data storage section 16 to the comparator 15 and both are compared by the comparator 1
51. m 9 wherein said first signal is based on the output of one or a plurality of sensors of the same type or sensors of different types 18 processor of claim 9 wherein said first signal is based on the output of one or a plurality of sensors and at least one ofthe sensors is set to use a threshold in detection in order to provide an appropriate sensitivity 19 A processor of claim 9 wherein said first signal is based on the output of one or a plurality of sensors and at least part of at least one of the sensor s detecting result is usable in other function of the portable apparatus 20 A processor of claim 9 wherein said second signal represents a certain touch operation 21 A processor of claim 9 wherein said processor is con figured to be connected with said sensors of different types through one or a plurality of interfaces 22 A processor of claim 9 wherein power consumption of said at least one of the control units can be close to almost zero US008687955B2 az United States Patent 10 Patent No US 8 687 955 B2 Sakurai 45 Date of Patent Apr 1 2014 54 IMAGE CAPTURING DEVICE AND 56 References Cited ACTIVATION METHOD THEREFOR U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 71 Applicant Sony Corporation Tokyo JP 4 096 492 6 1978 Land et al 4 247 188 1 1981 Kobori 72 Inventor Masaki Sakurai Toyko JP 4 249 816 A 2 1981 Suzuki et al 73 Assignee Sony Corporation JP Continued Notice Subject to any discl
52. mately simultaneously the system activating process is performed as in the related art and the image capturing mode is set in the image capturing device 1 without any difficultly In other words in a configuration form in which the second control unit 45 continuously monitors an opera tion signal and a detection signal the start of changing to the image capturing mode is detected by the detecting unit 3 and even ifthe power supply switch 2a is simultaneously pressed both can be grasped by the second control unit 45 Thus after changing 7 in the parenthesized symbol in FIG 1 to 3 processing after the above 4 is performed When the start of changing to the image capturing mode is not detected at all for example when the user does not touch the image capturing device 1 in form 1 in the above 3 a detection signal indicating that the image capturing mode is set in the image capturing device 1 is not sent to the second control unit 45 Thus system activation that is supplying power to the first control unit 4a an initializing process and supplying power to each portion of the system configuration unit 5 are not performed the image capturing device 1 enters a power controlled state in which the power consumption is the lowest Although various states depending on usage of the image capturing device 1 are assumed the second control unit 45 sets power management and a power control sequence whereby in any state the
53. n changing to the image capturing mode is predicted on the basis of the detection signal the process proceeds to step S2 and supplying power to the system controller 4 and a system configuration unit and initialization are initialized as background processing In addition in a predetermined time for example within one second a state capable of image capturing is set this state corresponds to the control state 1S and the process proceeds to step S3 When a power supply instruction is issued by operating an operation switch the process proceeds to step S4 and the system activation process is normally performed this is simi lar to that in the related art before the process proceeds to step S5 In step S3 it is determined whether or not the operation switch has been operated within a predetermined time In addition when the power supply instruction has been issued before a predetermined set time passes the process proceeds to step S5 Even ifthe set time has passed at timeout when the power supply instruction has not been issued the process returns to step S1 Determination of whether the operation signal from the operation switch has been sent is performed until the set time passes In step S5 an operation of the system configuration unit for example the image signal processing section 5a is com pleted and a backlight or the like included in the image display section 55 emits light to display a screen It takes almost no t
54. nal from the data storage section 16 are sent and compared with each other in the comparator 15 If the sensor detection value satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the pro cess proceeds to step ST74 If not the process returns to step ST50 and the sensor detection value is continuously moni tored In step 5154 the binary signal 15 received from the com parator 15 by the interruption generating section 20 This generates an interruption signal for the arithmetic processing US 8 687 955 B2 21 section 17 whereby its sleep state is canceled In step ST55 the arithmetic processing section 17 enters a state capable of performing processing with a predetermined operating speed The process proceeds to step ST4 shown in FIG 9 Although the subsequent processing is as described with reference to FIG 9 in step ST7 the CPU core or the like forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is set to the sleep state before the process returns to step ST50 shown in FIG 16 In the form in which the device attitude detection is initially performed for example in step 5150 the detection value with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold value may be compared with each other and in step 5153 the detection value with the electrostatic sensor and the threshold value may be compared with each other In any case when on the basis of the binary signal it is ensured that the image capturing mode is s
55. ng conditional branching in a program concerning ambient environments such as an outside air tem perature flexible responses can be performed Threshold data read from the data storage section 16 is sent to the comparator 15 and is compared with data sensor detec tion data digitized by the A D converter 14 When the detec tion data satisfies a condition represented by the threshold data it is recognized that for example the user touches a predetermined area of the camera or changing to the image capturing mode is initiated such that the user holds the cam era and an interruption signal to the arithmetic processing section 17 is generated In addition when the detection data does not satisfy the condition represented by the threshold data itis determined that the image capturing mode is not set or temporary or accidental contact or change in attitude or disturbance such as noise occurs In response to the interruption signal from the comparator 15 a sleep state of the CPU core forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is canceled wakeup and a system operation is performed with original performance that can be exhibited Detection data sampling may be performed in a wakeup state at all times without setting the CPU core or the like to be in the sleep state but power consumption at that time is an issue In other words when power consumed fora continuous operation of the CPU core ASIC or the like is an issue it is preferab
56. nging to the image capturing mode is sent to the system controller 4 is described Transmitting forms for using the angular velocity sensor or the like to notify the system that the user holds and sets a camera to be ready for image capturing include for example the following systems 1 analog system and 2 digital systems 2 1 binarization system and 2 2 serial system Comparisons in power among the systems are represented by the 1 analog system gt the 2 2 serial 2 1 binarization system As is clear the digital systems are less in power consumption than the analog system This is because power is increased for reasons such as the need to cause an A D converter to operate In addition in the bina rization system detection in the system 1s simple since two signal levels High and Low are used Accordingly it has an advantage in that in a state in which image capturing is not performed the system is continuously set in a sleep mode FIG 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example 12 in the 1 analog system and shows a detecting unit 13 and the second control unit 45 in the system controller 4 Inthe detecting unit 13 for example an electrostatic sensor serving as a contact detecting sensor 3a an angular velocity sensor serving as an attitude detecting sensor 35 etc are used and each sensor output is sent as an analog signal to an IC or computer forming the second control
57. ond control unit 4b In step 5140 for example the detection signal with the electrostatic sensor and a signal representing a threshold value of the detection signal are sent and compared with each other in the comparator 15 If the sensor detection value satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the pro cess proceeds to step ST41 If not the sensor detection value 15 continuously monitored In step 5141 the detection signal with the angular velocity sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold value signal are compared by the comparator 15 If the sensor detection value satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the process proceeds to step 5142 If not the process returns to step ST40 and the sensor detection value is continuously monitored In step ST42 the signal is sent from the comparator to the serial communication and interruption generating section 22 through the serial communicator 21 and an interruption signal generated by the serial communication and interrup tion generating section 22 is sent to the arithmetic processing section 17 whereby its sleep state is canceled This allows the arithmetic processing section 17 in step ST43 to perform processing with a predetermined operating speed The pro cess proceeds to step ST4 shown in FIG 9 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 22 Although the subsequent processing is as described with reference to FIG 9 in step ST7 the C
58. ransferred from the second control unit 45 to the first control unit 4a so that the image capturing device 1 instantly changes into a state capable of initiating image capturing In this embodiment when the detecting unit 3 detects that the image capturing mode is set in the image capturing device 1 power can be supplied to the components including the first control unit 4a in such a manner that the second control unit 4b instructs the power supply voltage generating section 65 However the sequence is not limited thereto but may employ a method in which the system is set to a suspend state before image capturing and a method in which the operating speed of the first control unit 4a is reduced In this case when the detecting unit 3 detects that the image capturing mode is set in the image capturing device 1 the system is returned to a state capable of image capturing or an increased operating speed ofthe first control unit 4a sets the image capturing device 1 to an image capturing state without any difficulty Hence although a time necessary for system activation is shortened in the standby state in which it is not detected that the image capturing mode is set power consumption increases com pared with the above case Next although in case B for example when the user touches the image capturing device 1 but does not press any power supply switch the steps 1 to 6 are performed power is consumed more than necessary if th
59. rmined that the amount of detection represents the start of changing to the image capturing mode When the amount of detection is equal to or less than the threshold value it can be determined that the amount of detection represents unex pected contact or approach or the like This embodiment has no problem when a housing is made of for example synthetic resin such as plastic The housing may be coated with an electrostatic shield depending on a device form and it is difficult to uses the electrostatic sensor to detect contact In such a case a configuration in which as shown in FIG the contact detecting sensor is embedded in a surface of a portion that the user s fingers touch for example the front portion 8a is employed and a configuration in which as shown in FIG 3B the contact detecting sensor 3a is embed ded in a back portion 85 in which a display portion 10 and an operation portion 11 are provided is employed For example an electrically conductive film element may be used as a detecting element However the detecting element is not limited to the film element but a detecting element formed of various electrically conductive materials may be used FIG 4 shows as an example of form II an example ofa configuration using a triaxial acceleration sensor Inacamera 7B in this example an attitude detecting sensor 3bthat is provided on a front portion 8a or a back side thereof detects changes in X Y and Z axes
60. ry until the power supplied by the power supply unit becomes stable and T3 represents a time necessary for the system initializing process Therefore by performing the chattering preventing pro cess after turning on the power supply switch and the system initializing process in parallel an activation time from the power supply operation time until the operation or processing desired by the user is initiated can be shortened In other words by employing a sequence that performs system initial ization as background processing for the chattering prevent ing process after the power is supplied to the system the system can be initialized without waiting for the chattering preventing process to finish For example when T1 lt T3 the activation time can be shortened to a time represented by 2 3 or approximately a time obtained by adding some value to T2 T3 However the image capturing device ofthe related art has the following problems in its activating functionality and power saving function 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 For example cases in which the user misses a shutter release opportunity include a situation in which when the power of the device is off at the time the user finds a desired subject the user fails to capture an image of a subject due to a long time taken after the user holds the device until the device is ready for image capturing In other words a time necessary for a
61. s of the output of said one or a plurality of sensors includes one from analog form digital form binary form and serial form 8 A portable apparatus of claim 2 wherein power consumption of said one of the control units can be close to almost zero 9 A processor for a portable apparatus wherein the por table apparatus comprises a display and a plurality oftypes of sensors said types of sensors including an image sensor wherein said portable apparatus is operable in a plurality of powered operational states said powered operational states including a first operational state and a second operational state and an image capturing operation 15 performable in the first operational state wherein said sensors have respective outputs of multiple types capable of being input to said processor US 8 687 955 B2 25 wherein said processor includes one or a plurality of con trol units at least one of said control units having a variably controllable operating frequency and control ling the image capturing operation in the first opera tional state wherein said processor is to control said portable apparatus to 1 change its operational state from the second opera tional state to the first operational state and 2 supply power to one ora plurality ofcomponents ofthe portable apparatus including said image sensor when receiving a first signal representing an activation of the image cap turing operation in the second operational state a
62. sensor to increase the number of detection axes Alternatively in a camera device having an image stabilizing function by using an angular velocity sensor and acceleration sensor pro vided for image stabilization to detect a change in device attitude a detecting unit can be mounted without increasing the number of components and expense Improvement of the detection accuracy includes a method that uses a plurality of sensors of the same type in the above forms T and ID and a method that uses sensors of different types in combination as in form III When determination is multilaterally performed the latter is more effective In FIG 1 for brevity of description form IIT is assumed and an example of the detecting unit 3 in which it includes sensors of plural types is shown In addition forms of trans mission from the detecting unit 3 to the system controller 4 include analog transmission and digital transmission includ ing binarization communication and serial communication whose details are described later The system controller 4 includes a first control unit 4a and a second control unit 45 The configuration of the system controller 4 has for example the following forms a form in which each control unit is formed as a separate circuit and a form in which the system controller 4 is formed as a single chip and circuit portions having functions of both control units are formed in the single chip In either form the fir
63. st control unit 4a controls image capturing or recording or playback of captured image data and the second control unit 45 monitors and processes an operation input signal from the operation unit 2 and a detec tion signal from the detecting unit 3 For example a micro computer or the like may be used as the first control unit 4a For example an application specific IC integrated circuit a microcomputer used as a sub computer for a main computer used as the first control unit 4a or the like may be used as the second control unit 45 In a system configuration unit 5 under the control of the first control unit 4a various types of components are used depending on the specifications and system configuration of 0 a 5 20 25 40 45 50 55 65 6 the image capturing device 1 In this embodiment an image signal processing section 5a and an image display section 55 are shown as typical examples The image signal processing section 5a includes an image capturing unit a camera signal processor and a recording and playback system signal pro cessor and performs image capturing and image recording and playback and in the image display section 55 an LCD liquid crystal display panel or the like is used A power supply 6 supplies power to the first control unit 4a the second control unit 45 and the system configuration unit 5 In application of an embodiment ofthe present invention a power supply 6a in whi
64. state hereinafter referred to as 1S in which the image capturing device 1 is capable of image capturing and US 8 687 955 B2 7 a second power control state hereinafter referred to as 28 having power consumption less than that in 1S In 1S power supply from the power supply 6 to the system controller 4 and the system configuration unit 5 is performed so that power consumption is greater than that in 2S Also in 2S power supply from the power supply 6 to the second control unit 45 is performed and power supply to the first control unit 4a and the system configuration unit 5 is not performed In other words 2S is a power saving state which monitors a switch operation by the operation unit 2 and a change in mode to the image capturing mode by the detecting unit 3 When the change in modeto the image capturing mode is detected in this control state that is when a detection signal by the detecting unit 3 is sent as a trigger signal to the second control unit 42 control of change from 2S to 1S is performed This performs power supplying to the first control unit 4a and initialization power supplying to the system configura tion unit 5 etc After that the image capturing device 1 changes to the power supplying state capable of image cap turing In this state by turningonthe power supply switch and pressing a shutter release button image capturing can be instantly initiated In addition in 1S when the power supply operation
65. tent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 9 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 9 ST8 CANCEL SLEEP MODE OF FROM STEP ST3 IN FIG 8 ARITHMETIC PROCESSING SECTION POWER SUPPLY OPERATION SIGNAL RECEIVED ST4 BACKGROUND PROCESSING Gee TO STATE Nao OF IMAGE CAPTURING NORMAL PROCESSING POWER SUPPLY SIGNAL RECEIVED IN PREDETERMINED AWAIT COMPLETION OF OPERATION RECEPTION OF SYSTEM COMPONENT NO TIMEOUT MODE TO STEP ST1 IN FIG 8 ST12 IMAGE CAPTURING U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 10 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 10 12A DATA WRITING DEVICE IN SHIPPING 4 s tsqW Ves sxs W a r s r DETECTING UNIT STORAGE 3b ATTITUDE DETECTING 2 SECTION ze SENSOR T CONTACT DETECTING CIRCUIT SENSOR CONSTANT DATA ARITHMETIC PROCESSING SECTION INTERRUPTION GENERATING SECTION 20 17 U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 11 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 FIG 11 START FROM STEP 517 IN FIG 9 ST20 THRESHOLD CONDITION SATISFIED BY DETECTED VALUE NOT SATISFIED CONDITION SATISFIED RESET ARITHMETIC PROCESSING SECTION CANCEL SLEEP MODE TO STEP STA IN FIG 9 U S Patent Apr 1 2014 Sheet 12 of 16 US 8 687 955 B2 12B 13B DETECTING UNIT s _ ATTITUDE DETECTING J SENSOR 3a CONTACT DETECTING J SENSOR Je T COMPARATOR
66. trol state monitoring a switch operation and a change to an image capturing mode and when the change to the image capturing mode is detected in the second power control state changing the second power control state to the first power control state Accordingly in an embodiment ofthe present invention at the time a second control means receives a detection signal representing a change changing start to an image capturing US 8 687 955 B2 3 mode power supply control for enabling image capturing is performed After changing to a first power control state image capturing is immediately initiated In a second power control state power is supplied only to the second control means and power does not need to be continuously supplied to the first control means and the second control means This contributes to reducing power consumption in a standby state before image capturing According to an embodiment of the present invention by initiating preparation for image capturing at the time the setting of an image capturing mode is detected activating functionality can be enhanced In addition it is not necessary to set a power supplying state capable of image capturing at all times When image capturing is not performed by setting a standby state having low power consumption a power sav ing effect can be obtained In other words since it is difficult to reduce an activation time itself to zero by changing to the first power control stat
67. ubject or the like and preventing unnecessary power consumption in a standby state ofthe image capturing device before it enters an image capturing mode A camera device configuration see for example Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No 2003 274640 is known which shortens an activation time that is necessary from the time a power on operation is performed on a camera device until the camera device is actually switched on for use When a power supply switch is operated chattering in which intermittent opening and closing ofa contact is repeat edly performed occurs thus causing a false operation etc Accordingly after a time passes until effects ofthe chattering disappear a process so called chattering preventing cess that determines whether the power supply switch is opened or closed is performed In addition when it is deter mined that the power on operation has been performed a system initializing process is performed after power supplied by a system s power supply unit becomes stable After that the camera device is in a state capable of processing such as image capturing In other words it is difficult to perform an operation or processing desired by a user unless a time rep resented by T1 T2 T3 passes after a power supply opera tion time at which a power supply operation is performed where T1 represents a time necessary for the chattering pre venting process T2 represents a time necessa
68. unit 45 The second control unit 45 includes in its circuit configu ration an A D converter 14 a comparator 15 an arithmetic processing section 17 such as a CPU central processing unit core or an ASIC application specific IC The A D converter 14 receives and converts the analog signal from the detecting unit 13 into a digital signal and sends the digital signal to the comparator 15 Ina data storage section 16 threshold data to be sent to the comparator 15 15 stored by using a data writing device 18 As the data storage section 16 for example a nonvolatile storage device such as an EEPROM electronically erasable and programmable read only memory is used By writing threshold data in shipping in units of devices a problem of detection error caused by variation in sensor characteristics and device unique variation in production malfunction or US 8 687 955 B2 13 the like can be prevented reliability is enhanced compared with a case using the same threshold data at all times In addition forcing surface mounted components to be changed after a product is completed needs a component cost and time thus causing a production cost However ability to use soft ware processing with a CPU to alter set values or the like by writing data to the nonvolatile storage device produces an advantage in that even after hardware is completed adjust ment setting alternation etc can be freely performed In addition by describi
69. uption generating section 20 receives a signal representing the start of changing to the image capturing mode the arithmetic processing section 17 is interrupted to cancel a sleep state so that the arithmetic processing section 17 enters a state in which the CPU core or the like can perform processing with a predetermined oper ating speed FIG 11 is a flowchart showing a main part of an example of the system activation process concerning the 2 1 binariza tion system FIG 11 shows only differences from the example described concerning the 1 analog system In step ST20 the comparator 15 compares the sensor detection signal and a threshold data signal If the sensor detection value satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the process proceeds to step ST21 If not the sensor detection signal is continuously monitored In step ST21 in response to the binary signal from the comparator 15 the interruption generating section 20 gener ates an interruption signal for the arithmetic processing sec tion 17 and the sleep state of the arithmetic processing sec tion 17 is canceled This allows the arithmetic processing section 17 to perform processing with a predetermined oper ating speed in step ST22 After that the process proceeds to step ST4 in FIG 9 The subsequent processing is as described with reference to FIG 9 However after in step ST7 the CPU coreorthe like forming the arithmetic processing section 17 is setto t
70. uring b case B in which although it is detected that the image capturing mode is set the power supply switch 2a is not operated by the user after that and c case C in which detection of the image capturing mode in being set and a user s operation on the power supply switch 2a are performed approximately at the same time At first case A is described in accordance with the follow ing steps 1 to 7 In FIG 1 the numerals in the parenthe sized symbols correspond to the following parenthesized numerals 1 to 7 respectively and represent processing order with the lapse of time 1 By inserting a battery into the power supply 6 the power of the power supply voltage generating section 65 is turned on 2 Power supply from the power supply voltage generat ing section 65 to the second control unit 45 is performed whereby the second control unit 45 is ready to receive the operation signal from the power supply switch 2a 25 40 45 55 60 65 8 3 The second control unit 45 is notified by the detecting unit 3 that the image capturing device 1 is in the image capturing mode For example in form I an electrostatic sensor or the like is used for detecting contact with the image capturing device 1 In other words detection of contact with the image capturing device 1 by using the sensor performs system activation For example a system activation process is performed as a background process In addition in form
71. value with the angular velocity sensoror acceleration sensor and the threshold value may be compared with each other and in step 5741 the detection value with the electrostatic sensor and the threshold value may be compared with each other In any case on the basis of the binary signal it is ensured that the image capturing mode is set by the contact detection and the attitude detection In the example of the system activation process in the case in which the MAXIMUM SPEED is set in FIG 16 at first the detection signal of each sensor is sent to the second control unit 42 In step 5150 the detection signal with the electrostatic sensor and a signal representing a threshold value of the detection signal are compared with each other by the com parator 15 If the sensor detection signal satisfies a condition defined by the threshold value the process proceeds to step 5751 If not the process proceeds to step ST53 In step ST51 the binary signal from the comparator is received by the interruption generating section 20 This gen erates an interruption signal for the arithmetic processing section 17 whereby its sleep state is canceled In step ST52 the arithmetic processing section 17 enters a state capable of performing processing with a predetermined operating speed The process proceeds to step ST4 shown in FIG 9 In step ST53 the detection signal with the electrostatic sensor or acceleration sensor and the threshold value sig

Image capturing device and activation method therefor

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