Fresnel lens with reduced draft facet visibility

• US 10,359,545 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2015
• Issued: 07/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Smith, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrington, Alicia A
• Application Number:
  US14/858,733
• Publication Number:
  US 20160011341A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,404 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/012 comprising devices for attenuating parasitic image effects
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0123 comprising devices increasing the field of view
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/013 comprising a combiner of particular shape, e.g. curvature
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/08 with discontinuous faces, e.g. Fresnel lens diffractive Fresnel lenses G02B5/1876

Abstract

A curved Fresnel lens is provided. The Fresnel lens includes a grooved surface and a smooth surface. The grooved surface includes a plurality of concentric sloped facets and a plurality of concentric draft facets. Pairs of concentric draft facets and concentric sloped facets form a plurality of concentric grooves in the grooved surface. The concentric sloped facets are configured to focus light toward an eye of a nominal user. At least some of the concentric draft facets are congruent with conical surfaces of respective imaginary light cones that have corresponding vertices that originate from respective focal points, wherein each imaginary light cone extends through the Fresnel lens at an angle based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens and extends beyond the grooved surface into free space.

Claims

1. A curved Fresnel lens comprising:

a grooved surface and a smooth surface, the grooved surface comprising a plurality of concentric sloped facets and a plurality of concentric draft facets, pairs of concentric draft facets and concentric sloped facets forming a plurality of concentric grooves in the grooved surface, the plurality of concentric sloped facets configured to focus light received from the grooved surface through the smooth surface toward an eye of a nominal user;

at least some of the plurality of concentric draft facets being angled based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens to be congruent with conical surfaces of respective light cones that have corresponding vertices that originate from respective focal points, wherein each respective light cone extends through the Fresnel lens at an angle based in part on the index of refraction of the Fresnel lens and extends beyond the grooved surface into free space.

2. The curved Fresnel lens of claim 1 wherein the grooved surface is a grooved convex surface, and the smooth surface is a smooth concave surface.

3. A Fresnel lens comprising:

a grooved surface and a smooth surface, the grooved surface comprising a plurality of concentric sloped facets and a plurality of concentric draft facets, pairs of concentric draft facets and concentric sloped facets forming a plurality of concentric grooves in the grooved surface, the plurality of concentric sloped facets configured to focus light received from the grooved surface to the smooth surface toward an eye of a nominal user;

wherein each concentric draft facet of the plurality of concentric draft facets is non-parallel with each other concentric draft facet.

4. The Fresnel lens of claim 3 wherein the grooved surface is a grooved convex surface, and the smooth surface is a smooth concave surface.

5. The Fresnel lens of claim 3 wherein each concentric draft facet of the plurality of concentric draft facets is angled based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens to be congruent with conical surfaces of respective light cones that have corresponding vertices that originate from respective focal points, wherein each respective light cone extends through the Fresnel lens at an angle based in part on the index of refraction of the Fresnel lens and extends beyond the grooved surface into free space.

6. A Fresnel lens comprising:

a grooved convex exterior surface and a smooth concave interior surface, the grooved convex exterior surface comprising a plurality of concentric sloped facets and a plurality of concentric draft facets, pairs of concentric draft facets and concentric sloped facets forming a plurality of concentric grooves in the grooved convex exterior surface, the concentric sloped facets configured to focus light received from the grooved convex exterior surface to the smooth concave interior surface toward an eye of a nominal user;

wherein the Fresnel lens comprises an axis of symmetry about which the Fresnel lens is symmetric, wherein at least two of the plurality of concentric sloped facets are non-parallel with respect to the axis of symmetry.

7. The Fresnel lens of claim 6 wherein at least some of the plurality of concentric draft facets are angled based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens to be congruent with conical surfaces of respective light cones that have corresponding vertices that originate from respective focal points, wherein each respective light cone extends through the Fresnel lens at an angle based in part on the index of refraction of the Fresnel lens and extends beyond the grooved surface into free space.

8. A head-mountable apparatus comprising:

a first pair of Fresnel lenses, each Fresnel lens of the first pair of Fresnel lenses being curved and comprising;

a grooved surface and a smooth surface, the grooved surface comprising a plurality of concentric sloped facets and a plurality of concentric draft facets, pairs of concentric draft facets and concentric sloped facets forming a plurality of concentric grooves in the grooved surface, the plurality of concentric sloped facets configured to focus light received from the grooved surface to the smooth surface toward an eye of a nominal user;

at least some of the plurality of concentric draft facets being angled based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens to be aligned with conical surfaces of respective light cones that have corresponding vertices that originate from respective focal points, wherein each respective light cone extends through the Fresnel lens at an angle based in part on the index of refraction of the Fresnel lens and extends beyond the grooved surface into free space.

9. The head-mountable apparatus of claim 8 wherein the grooved surface is a grooved convex surface, and the smooth surface is a smooth concave surface.

10. The head-mountable apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

a frame including two lens-holding structures, each lens-holding structure of the two lens-holding structures configured to hold a respective Fresnel lens of the first pair of Fresnel lenses.

11. The head-mountable apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a second pair of Fresnel lenses, each Fresnel lens of the second pair of Fresnel lenses comprising:

a grooved surface and a smooth surface, the grooved surface comprising a plurality of concentric sloped facets and a plurality of concentric draft facets, pairs of concentric draft facets and concentric sloped facets forming a plurality of concentric grooves in the grooved surface, the plurality of concentric sloped facets configured to focus light received from the grooved surface to the smooth surface toward an eye of a nominal user;

at least some of the plurality of concentric draft facets being angled based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens to be aligned with conical surfaces of respective light cones that have corresponding vertices that originate from respective focal points, wherein each respective light cone extends through the Fresnel lens at an angle based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens and extends beyond the grooved surface into free space;

wherein each lens-holding structure is configured to hold a respective Fresnel lens of the first pair of Fresnel lenses and a respective Fresnel lens of the second pair of Fresnel lenses.

12. The head-mountable apparatus of claim 11 wherein the grooved surface is a grooved convex surface, and the smooth surface is a smooth concave surface.

13. A Fresnel lens comprising:

a grooved surface and a smooth surface, the grooved surface comprising a plurality of concentric sloped facets and a plurality of concentric draft facets, pairs of concentric draft facets and concentric sloped facets forming a plurality of concentric grooves in the grooved surface, the plurality of concentric sloped facets configured to focus light received from the grooved surface to the smooth surface toward an eye of a nominal user;

at least some of the plurality of concentric draft facets being oriented to remove ring artifacts caused by external or internal light.

14. The Fresnel lens of claim 13 wherein the grooved surface is a grooved convex surface, and the smooth surface is a smooth concave surface.

15. The Fresnel lens of claim 13 wherein the at least some of the plurality of concentric draft facets are oriented to remove ring artifacts caused by external or internal light based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens.

16. The Fresnel lens of claim 13 wherein the at least some of the plurality of concentric draft facets are oriented to remove ring artifacts caused by external or internal light by being congruent with conical surfaces of respective light cones that have corresponding vertices that originate from respective focal points, wherein each respective light cone extends through the Fresnel lens at an angle based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens and extends beyond the grooved surface into free space.

17. A single curved Fresnel lens comprising:

a first grooved convex surface, the first grooved convex surface comprising a plurality of first concentric sloped facets and a plurality of first concentric draft facets, pairs of first concentric draft facets and first concentric sloped facets forming a plurality of first concentric grooves in the first grooved convex surface, the plurality of first concentric sloped facets configured to focus light toward an eye of a nominal user; and

a second grooved concave surface, the second grooved concave surface comprising a plurality of second concentric sloped facets and a plurality of second concentric draft facets, pairs of second concentric draft facets and second concentric sloped facets forming a plurality of second concentric grooves in the second grooved concave surface, the plurality of second concentric sloped facets configured to focus light toward the eye of the nominal user;

wherein the plurality of first concentric sloped facets are configured to focus light received from the first grooved convex surface to the second grooved concave surface toward the eye of the nominal user and at least some of the plurality of first concentric draft facets are angled based in part on an index of refraction of the Fresnel lens to be congruent with conical surfaces of respective light cones that have corresponding vertices that originate from respective focal points, wherein each respective light cone extends through the Fresnel lens at an angle based in part on the index of refraction of the Fresnel lens and extends beyond the first grooved convex surface into free space.