IP Library Granted Patent US 11,086,138
Granted Patent B2
US 11,086,138 · App. 16/320,550 · Granted Aug 10, 2021

Method of autostereoscopic imaging and autostereoscopic illumination unit

Inventors: Bernhard Stojetz (Wiesent, DE); Alfred Lell (Maxhütte-Haidhof, DE); Christoph Eichler (Donaustauf, DE); Andreas Löffler (Neutraubling, DE); Harald König (Bernhardswald, DE); André Somers (Obertraubling, DE); Clemens Vierheilig (Tegernheim, DE)
Assignee: OSRAM OLED GmbH
G02B30/27G02B30/24G02B30/35H04N13/305H04N13/307H04N13/32
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,086,138
App. No.
16/320,550
Granted
Aug 10, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method of autostereoscopic imaging including providing an autostereoscopic illumination unit including a lens field composed of a multiplicity of individual lenses or concave mirrors, and modulating an emission characteristic of the light source such that the individual lenses or the concave mirrors are illuminated only partly by the light source, wherein light from the light source impinges on the individual lenses or concave mirrors such that an emission characteristic of a three-dimensional object is imitated, the lens field extends over a spatial angle range of at least 2 sr relative to the light source or an external observer, the individual lenses or concave mirrors are distributed over the lens field and are at least partially sequentially irradiated, and the light source is formed by one or more lasers and the laser or each of the lasers irradiates/irradiate only one of the individual lenses at a specific point in time.

Claims (45)

1. A method of autostereoscopic imaging comprising:

providing an autostereoscopic illumination unit comprising at least one light source and comprising a lens field composed of a multiplicity of individual lenses or a multiplicity of concave mirrors, and

modulating an emission characteristic of the light source such that the individual lenses or the concave mirrors are illuminated only partly by the light source,

wherein

light from the light source impinges on the individual lenses or concave mirrors such that by the individual lenses or concave mirrors an emission characteristic of a three-dimensional object to be displayed is imitated,

the lens field extends over a spatial angle range of at least 2 sr relative to the light source or an external observer,

the individual lenses or concave mirrors are distributed over the lens field,

the individual lenses or concave mirrors are at least partially sequentially irradiated,

the light source is formed by one or more lasers and the laser or each of the lasers irradiates/irradiate only one of the individual lenses at a specific point in time,

the illumination unit has a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to the lens field,

an average diameter of the individual lenses is 10 μm to 2 mm,

light entrance surfaces of the individual lenses are illuminated to at most 10% by the light source, and

the light source emits red, green and blue light and the three-dimensional object is represented in color.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the individual lenses constitute the lens field, and the lens field is continuously or in approximation curved in a convex manner from an exterior view and is concavely curved when viewed from the light source.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein a virtual image of the object is generated by the lens field, and the virtual image lies at least partially on the same side of the lens field as the light source.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the virtual image comprises a plurality of beam bundle nodes in which a plurality of beam bundles of the light generated by the light source and deflected by the individual lenses.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein a real image of the object is generated by the lens field, and the real image lies at least partially on a side of the lens field facing away from the light source.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the real image comprises a plurality of beam bundle nodes in which a plurality of beam bundles of the light generated by the light source and deflected by the individual lenses.

7. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the lens field is a hollow body is shaped and the individual lenses are uniformly distributed over a casing of the hollow body, and the lens field extends over a spatial angle range of at least 4 sr relative to the light source or the external observer.

8. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the lens field is shaped as a sphere over a solid angle range of at least 6 sr, the at least one light source is located within the sphere, and the individual lenses are uniformly distributed over a spherical surface of the sphere.

9. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the light source or at least one of the light sources is/are moved and/or rotated within the lens field so that the individual lenses are sequentially irradiated.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein a plurality of light sources are arranged in a common plane, the light sources rotating together.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in spatial angle regions that originate from object points of the three-dimensional object to be represented and in which the object is located between the relevant object point and an observer, no light is emitted so that the object points appear hidden by the object.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein several of the light sources are arranged stacked one on top of the other along the longitudinal axis (L), and the light sources are structurally identical.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the lens field is shaped as a hollow cylinder within which the at least one light source is located, and the individual lenses are uniformly distributed over a cylinder jacket of the hollow cylinder.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the illumination unit additionally comprises at least one detector, the detector is integrated in the lens field and the at least one light source periodically illuminates the detector so that the light source can be calibrated with the detector.

15. An autostereoscopic illumination unit comprising:

at least one light source,

a lens field formed continuously from a multiplicity of individual lenses configured as converging lenses, and

control electronics,

wherein the light source is configured to only partially illuminate each one of the individual lenses,

the illumination unit has a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to the lens field,

an average diameter of the individual lenses is 10 μm to 2 mm,

the light source is configured to illuminate at most 10% of light entrance surfaces of the individual lenses, and

the light source is configured to emit red, green and blue light.

16. The illumination unit according to claim 15 , wherein a region between the light source and the lens field is free of apertures, the lens field, viewed from an exterior, is curved convexly and, viewed from the light source, is curved concavely, and a quotient of a number of individual lenses and a number of light sources is 10 to 10 7 .

17. A method of autostereoscopic imaging comprising:

providing an autostereoscopic illumination unit comprising at least one light source and comprising a lens field composed of a multiplicity of individual lenses or a multiplicity of concave mirrors and at least one detector, and

modulating an emission characteristic of the light source such that the individual lenses or the concave mirrors are illuminated only partly by the light source,

wherein

light from the light source impinges on the individual lenses or concave mirrors such that by the individual lenses or concave mirrors an emission characteristic of a three-dimensional object to be displayed is imitated,

the lens field extends over a spatial angle range of at least 2 sr relative to the light source or an external observer,

the individual lenses or concave mirrors are distributed over the lens field,

the individual lenses or concave mirrors are at least partially sequentially irradiated, and

the detector is integrated in the lens field and the at least one light source periodically illuminates the detector so that the light source can be calibrated with the detector.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 3, 2020
From: OSRAM OPTO SEMICONDUCTORS GMBH
To: OSRAM OLED GMBH
Reel/Frame 051464/0504 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 14, 2019
From: STOJETZ, BERNHARD; LELL, ALFRED; EICHLER, CHRISTOPH; LÖFFLER, ANDREAS; KÖNIG, HARALD; SOMERS, ANDRÉ; VIERHEILIG, CLEMENS
To: OSRAM OPTO SEMICONDUCTORS GMBH
Reel/Frame 048596/0495 →