SonyPatent applicationCameras & imagingInterest 4/10

Sony patents camera mask that uses rotational symmetry to guide light

Patent drawing from the official filing.

Sony describes a mask for image capturing devices that uses a two-dimensional pattern to guide light to a sensor. The design features a symmetrical component that rotates around a specific reference point located within the pattern area.

Why it mattersThis filing details a specific optical component design that could help improve how cameras capture light, though it is a technical refinement rather than a new product feature.

In the filing’s own words

A mask includes a two-dimensional pattern including an optical amplitude modulation region or a phase modulation region having a symmetrical component that is symmetrical in a rotation direction about a preset rotation reference point, wherein the mask guides, based on the two-dimensional pattern, incident light to an image sensor. Additionally, the rotation reference point is set inside a pattern forming region where the two-dimensional pattern is provided.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A mask, comprising: a two-dimensional pattern including an optical amplitude modulation region or a phase modulation region having a symmetrical component that is symmetrical in a rotation direction about a preset rotation reference point, wherein the mask guides, based on the two-dimensional pattern, incident light to an image sensor.

Facts

Company: Sony (Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation)
Official title: MASK, IMAGE CAPTURING DEVICE, IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, AND DATA GENERATION METHOD
Publication number: US20260323174A1
Application number: 19473804
Filed: Apr 15, 2024
Published: Oct 15, 2026
Inventors: 1
Claims: 20

Classified under

H04N 23/955 Electricity & electronicsG02B 5/003 Physics & computingG02B 26/06 Physics & computing

Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.