IMAGING APPARATUS

• US 20110233383A1
• Filed: 03/09/2011
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Displays Limited (Japan Display Incorporated)
• Inventors: OKU, Kentaro
• Granted Patent: US 8,637,799 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/208.1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14625 Optical elements or arrangements associated with the device
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14685 Process for coatings or optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

An imaging apparatus is realized which enables a thin finger vein authentication apparatus having a thickness installable in a portable information device. A light beam emitted from an object passes through a visible light cut-off filter 20 and enters a pre-focus lens array 11. The pre-focus lens array 11 focuses the light beam on an opening of a micro aperture array 15. The light beam passed through the micro aperture array 15 diverges, but it is focused with the post-focus lens array 13 on the light detection device 30. With this structure, a thin imaging apparatus can be obtained with maintained resolution, and a finger authentication apparatus installable in a portable information device can be realized.

Claims

1. An imaging apparatus having a substrate where a plurality of light detection devices are arrayed and a light focusing/shielding device,

wherein the light focusing/shielding device has a first lens array, a second lens array, and an aperture array between the first lens array and the second lens array, and

wherein the first lens array exists on an object side while the second lens array exists on the light detection device side.

2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the first lens array, micro lenses are densely arrayed.

3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the micro lenses in the first lens array are arranged in a dense rectangular or dense hexagonal array.

4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the micro lenses in the second lens array are aspherical surface lenses.

5. An imaging apparatus having a substrate where a plurality of light detection devices are arrayed and a light focusing/shielding device,

wherein the light focusing/shielding device has a first lens array, a second lens array, and an aperture array between the first lens array and the second lens array,

wherein the first lens array exists on an object side while the second lens array exists on the light detection device side, and

further wherein a light beam emitted from one point of the object is focused with the first lens array in the vicinity of an aperture opening of the aperture array, passed through the aperture opening and diverged, and further, focused on the light detection device by an effect of the second lens array.

6. A method of manufacturing light focusing/shielding device where a first lens array is formed on a first substrate, a second lens array is formed on a second substrate, and an aperture array is held between the first substrate and the second substrate,

wherein in the aperture array, openings of the aperture array are formed by using the first lens array as an exposure mask.

7. The method of manufacturing light focusing/shielding device according to claim 6, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are attached by using ultraviolet curing resin.