IP Library Granted Patent US 7,385,769
Granted Patent B2
US 7,385,769 · App. 11/514,448 · Granted Jun 10, 2008

Image forming optical system, and image pickup apparatus and identification apparatus using the system

Assignee: Olympus Imaging Corp.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,385,769
App. No.
11/514,448
Granted
Jun 10, 2008
Kind
B2
Abstract

An image forming optical system comprising, in order from an object side: a negative lens unit having one or two negative lenses without including any positive lens; a reflecting member; an aperture stop; and a positive lens unit having one or two positive lenses without including any negative lens.

Claims (72)

1. An image forming optical system comprising, in order from an object side to an image surface:

a negative lens unit having one or two negative lenses without including any positive lens;

a reflecting member having an incidence surface which is concave on the object side and an exit surface which is convex toward the image side;

an aperture stop; and

a positive lens unit having one or two positive lenses without including any negative lens

wherein no negative lens is provided between the reflecting member and the image surface.

2. An image forming optical system comprising, in order from an object side:

a negative lens unit having one or two negative lenses without including any positive lens;

an optical path deflecting element;

an aperture stop; and

a positive lens unit having one or two positive lenses without including any negative lens,

the image forming optical system being configured to satisfy the following condition:

0.05 <d 0 /Oh< 0.8,

wherein d 0 denotes a length from an object point to a lens of the image forming optical system closest to the object side measured on an optical axis, and Oh denotes a maximum object height.

3. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

−3.0 <fn/fp <−0.2,

wherein fn denotes a focal length of the negative lens unit, and fp denotes a focal length of the positive lens unit.

4. The image forming optical system according to claim 2 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

−3.0 <fn/fp <−0.2,

wherein fn denotes a focal length of the negative lens unit, and fp denotes a focal length of the positive lens unit.

5. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 or 3 , wherein the reflecting member includes a reflective surface which deflects an optical path of the image forming optical system, and

the following condition is satisfied:

0.15 <df/dr <1.5,

wherein df denotes a distance along an optical axis from a foremost surface of the negative lens unit to a position to deflect the optical axis of the image forming optical system, and dr denotes a distance along the optical axis from the position to deflect the optical axis to an image surface.

6. The image forming optical system according to claim 2 or 4 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

0.15 <df/dr <1.5,

wherein df denotes a distance along the optical axis from a foremost surface of the negative lens unit to a position to deflect the optical axis of the image forming optical system, and dr denotes a distance along the optical axis from the position to deflect the optical axis to an image surface.

7. The image forming optical system according to claim 5 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

−5 <fn/Ih <−1,

wherein fn denotes the focal length of the negative lens unit, and Ih denotes a maximum image height.

8. The image forming optical system according to claim 6 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

−5 <fn/Ih <−1,

wherein fn denotes the focal length of the negative lens unit, and Ih denotes a maximum image height.

9. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

1 <fp/Ih <5,

wherein fp denotes a focal length of the positive lens unit, and Ih is a maximum image height.

10. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

0.01 <Ih/Oh <0.1,

wherein Ih denotes a maximum image height, and Oh denotes a maximum object height.

11. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

0.05 <|r 1r /r in |<0.9,

wherein r 1r denotes a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the lens in the image forming optical system closest to the object side, and r in denotes a radius of curvature of an incidence refractive surface of the reflecting member.

12. The image forming optical system according to claim 2 , wherein the optical path deflecting element includes an incident refractive surface and an exit refractive surface, and

the following condition is satisfied:

0.05 <|r 1r /r in |<0.9,

wherein r 1r denotes a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the lens in the image forming optical system closest to the object side, and r in denotes a radius of curvature of the incidence refractive surface of the optical path deflecting element.

13. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

0.1 <|f p /r out |<1.5,

wherein f p denotes a focal length of the positive lens unit, and r out denotes a radius of curvature of an exit refractive surface of the reflecting member.

14. The image forming optical system according to claim 2 , wherein the optical path deflecting element includes an incidence refractive surface and an exit refractive surface, and

the following condition is satisfied:

0.1 <|f p /r out |<1.5,

in which f p denotes a focal length of the positive lens unit, and r out denotes a radius of curvature of the exit refractive surface of the optical path deflecting element.

15. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

1.45<n avg <1.65,

in which n avg denotes an average value of refractive indices of all the lenses for use in forming an image.

16. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

70°<θ<110°,

wherein θ denotes an angle formed by an optical axis of the negative lens unit and that of the positive lens unit.

17. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition is satisfied:

600 nm<λ<950 nm,

in which λ denotes a wavelength of light for use in the image forming optical system.

18. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

the image forming optical system according to claim 1 ; and

an image sensor disposed on an image side of the image forming optical system.

19. An identification apparatus comprising:

a light source which irradiates an object with light; and

the image pickup apparatus according to claim 18 for picking up an image of the object irradiated with the light from the light source.

20. The identification apparatus according to claim 19 , further comprising:

identification processing means for collating information inherent in the object obtained based on data of the image picked up by the image pickup apparatus with reference information registered beforehand to identify the information.

21. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the reflecting member is formed of a prism.

22. The image forming optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the reflecting member is formed of a prism, a negative lens disposed on an incidence side of the prism and a positive lens disposed on an exit side of the prism which are cemented together.

Assignments (3)
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Recorded Jun 27, 2016
From: OLYMPUS CORPORATION
To: OLYMPUS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 039344/0502 →
MERGER Recorded Aug 5, 2015
From: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
To: OLYMPUS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 036279/0239 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 31, 2006
From: KAMO, YUJI
To: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Reel/Frame 018259/0964 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2005-256524 · Sep 5, 2005 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20070053075A1 · Mar 8, 2007