Thinner mobile camera optical lens system and image forming method using the same

• US 20070036537A1
• Filed: 08/04/2006
• Published: 02/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Lee, Sang, Oh, Hye, Jeong, Ho, You, Ho, Song, Seok
• Granted Patent: US 7,689,116 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 396/333
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/001 Miniaturised objectives for electronic devices, e.g. portable telephones, webcams, PDAs, small digital cameras G02B23/243 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/003 having two lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/0035 having three lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/007 the beam folding prism having at least one curved surface
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 17/002 Arrays of reflective systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 17/0816 off-axis or unobscured systems in which not all of the mirrors share a common axis of rotational symmetry, e.g. at least one of the mirrors is warped, tilted or decentered with respect to the other elements
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 17/086 wherein the system is made of a single block of optical material, e.g. solid catadioptric systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/1066 for enhancing image performance, like resolution, pixel numbers, dual magnifications or dynamic range, by tiling, slicing or overlapping fields of view
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/123 The splitting element being a lens or a system of lenses, including arrays and surfaces with refractive power
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 37/04 with cameras or projectors providing touching or overlapping fields of view

Abstract

The present invention provides a mobile camera optical lens system which assures a wide view angle by dividing a view angle into two or more view angles, and simultaneously achieves the thinness of the mobile camera optical lens system by providing separate off-axis lens systems respectively corresponding to the split view angles.

Claims

1. A thinner mobile camera optical lens system, comprising:

two or more lens systems for passing light beams entering through two or more identical split view angles into which an view angle of the mobile camera optical lens system is divided, the lens systems corresponding to the split view angles; and

a single image sensor for receiving the light beams passing through the two or more lens systems.

2. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the division of the view angle is conducted by performing division such that light beams entering a mobile camera have different optical axes.

3. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 1, wherein any one of the two or more lens systems is formed to include an incident surface on which light beams are incident, two reflecting surfaces, and an exit surface, the two reflecting surfaces being inclined relative to a reference axis.

4. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 1 or 3, wherein the two or more lens systems are formed to be symmetrical to each other.

5. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 1 or 3, wherein each of the lens systems is constructed using an off-axis lens system.

6. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 5, wherein the off-axis lens system has surfaces that are formed using XY polynomial free-form surfaces represented by the following equation:

7. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the lens systems are integrally or separately formed using injection molding, or are formed on wafer scale.

8. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the single image sensor is divided to correspond to a number of the split view angles, so that light beams passing through the lens systems form images on respective areas of the image sensor.

9. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 8, wherein the images formed on the respective areas of the image sensor are combined using a photo stitching method or a panorama mosaic method.

10. The thinner mobile camera optical lens system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the optical lens system satisfies the following condition:

L/ID≦

0.6

where L is overall length and ID is diagonal length of the image sensor.

11. A method of forming an image using a thinner mobile camera optical lens system, comprising:

dividing a view angle of a mobile camera optical lens system into two or more identical angles;

passing light beams, entering through the split view angles, through respective lens systems corresponding thereto;

forming the light beams, passing through the respective lens systems, on the corresponding areas of an image sensor; and

combining the images formed on the respective areas of the image sensor.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the division of the view angle is conducted by performing division such that light beams entering a mobile camera have different optical axes.

13. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein each of the lens systems is constructed using an off-axis lens system.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13, wherein the off-axis lens system has surfaces that are formed using XY polynomial free-form surfaces represented by the following equation:

15. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the lens systems are integrally or separately formed using injection molding, or are formed on wafer scale.

16. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein, when the lens systems form inverted images, the images formed on the respective areas of the image sensor are combined using a photo stitching method or a panorama mosaic method.