Illumination system with side-emitting illumination, targeting, and confirmation

1. An apparatus comprising:

a fixture adapted to accommodate a camera having imaging optics that define an optical axis, the fixture comprising:

a base circuit board to which the camera can be mounted with the imaging optics pointing out an open end of the fixture, and

a pair of spaced-apart circuit boards coupled to the base circuit board, each spaced-apart circuit board having an inside surface whose normal points toward the other and an outside surface whose normal points away from the other spaced-apart circuit board; and

one or more arrays of side-emitting illumination light sources positioned on the outside surface of at least one spaced-apart circuit board, the one or more arrays of side-emitting illumination light sources positioned to direct light in the direction of the optical axis toward a plane intersected by the optical axis when the camera is present.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of side-emitting targeting light sources positioned on at least one of the spaced-apart circuit boards at a selected distance from the open end; and

projection optics optically coupled to the plurality of side-emitting targeting light sources to project a plurality of targeting light beams onto the plane intersected by the optical axis, wherein, when the camera is installed in the fixture, the projections of the plurality of targeting light beams on the plane are bars that intersect at the center of the field of view of the imaging optics independent of the distance between the imaging optics and the plane.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the projection optics comprise a pair of optical elements, each optical element coupled to one or more corresponding side-emitting targeting light sources, wherein each optical element includes a beam-forming element to shape the emitted beam.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the beam-forming element is a slit.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the bars comprise first and second bars each with first and second ends, and wherein:

if the first and second bars intersect at or near both their first ends, substantially forming a caret shape, the plane is at a first focus distance;

if the first and second bars bisect each other, the plane is at a second focus distance; and

if the first and second bars intersect each other at or near both their second ends, substantially forming a V shape, the plane is at a third focus distance.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising one or more side-emitting confirmation light sources coupled to the fixture and pointing toward the plane intersected by the optical axis.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the side-emitting illumination light sources, the side-emitting targeting light sources, and the side-emitting confirmation light sources each emit different colored light.

8. A system comprising:

a camera including imaging optics that define an optical axis;

a fixture including:

a base circuit board to which the camera is mounted with the imaging optics pointing out an open end of the fixture, and

a pair of spaced-apart circuit boards coupled to the base circuit board, each spaced-apart circuit board having an inside surface whose normal points toward the other and an outside surface whose normal points away from the other spaced-apart circuit board; and

one or more arrays of side-emitting illumination light sources positioned on the outside surface of at least one spaced-apart circuit board, the one or more arrays of side-emitting illumination light sources positioned to direct light in the direction of the optical axis toward a plane intersected by the optical axis.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

a plurality of side-emitting targeting light sources positioned on at least one of the spaced-apart circuit boards at a selected distance from the open end; and

projection optics optically coupled to the plurality of side-emitting targeting light sources to project a plurality of targeting light beams onto the plane intersected by the optical axis, wherein, when the camera is installed in the fixture, the projections of the plurality of targeting light beams on the plane are bars that intersect at the center of the field of view of the imaging optics independent of the distance between the imaging optics and the plane.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the projection optics comprise a pair of optical elements, each optical element coupled to one or more corresponding side-emitting targeting light sources, wherein each optical element includes a beam-forming element to shape the emitted beam.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the beam-forming element is a slit.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the bars comprise first and second bars each with first and second ends, and wherein:

if the first and second bars intersect at or near both their first ends, substantially forming a caret shape, the plane is at a first focus distance;

if the first and second bars bisect each other, the plane is at a second focus distance; and

if the first and second bars intersect each other at or near both their second ends, substantially forming a V shape, the plane is at a third focus distance.

13. The system of claim 9 , further comprising one or more side-emitting confirmation light sources coupled to the fixture and pointing toward the plane intersected by the optical axis.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the side-emitting illumination light sources, the side-emitting targeting light sources, and the side-emitting confirmation light sources each emit different colored light.