Biocular eyepiece optical system employing refractive and diffractive optical elements
First Claim
1. A biocular eyepiece optical system comprising:
- a first optical element having at least one diffractive surface;
a second optical element having at least one refractive surface;
a third optical element having at least one refractive surface;
the first, second, and third optical elements being generally disposed along an optical axis; and
wherein the second optical element is optically intermediate the first and third optical element.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, a three-element biocular eyepiece system 40 having a first optical element 42 with at least one diffractive surface 44, a second optical element 48 having a refracting convex surface 50 and a refracting concave surface b 52 is provided. A third optical element 54 having a refracting convex surface 56 and a refracting convex surface 58 is also employed. In another embodiment, a four-element biocular system 60 is disclosed as having an optical element 62 having a refracting concave surface 64 and a refracting convex surface 66, a refractive-diffractive hybrid optical element 68 having a diffractive surface 70 and a refracting convex surface 72, an optical element 74 having a refracting convex surface 76 and a refracting concave surface 78, and an optical element 80 having a refracting concave surface 82 and a refracting convex surface 84. The diffractive surfaces 44 and 70 have a kinoform profile 102 a-d or approximated kinoform profiles 112a-d and 122a-d. Both versions of the biocular eyepiece 40 and 60 provide a biocular eyepiece which has fewer lens elements and a shorter overall length than conventional designs. Both versions of the biocular eyepiece 40 and 60 may be used in combination with a cathode ray tube 12 for magnification of images generated therein.
45 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A biocular eyepiece optical system comprising:
-
a first optical element having at least one diffractive surface; a second optical element having at least one refractive surface; a third optical element having at least one refractive surface; the first, second, and third optical elements being generally disposed along an optical axis; and wherein the second optical element is optically intermediate the first and third optical element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A biocular eyepiece optical system comprising:
-
a first optical element having first and second surfaces, the first surface being a diffractive surface and the second surface being a refractive convex surface; a second optical element having third and fourth surfaces, the third surface being a refracting convex surface and the fourth surface being a refracting concave surface; and a third optical element having a fifth and sixth surfaces, the fifth surface being a refractive and substantially planar surface and the sixth surface being a refractive convex surface.
-
-
10. A biocular eyepiece optical system comprising:
-
a first optical element having at least one refractive surface; a second optical element having at least one refractive surface; a third optical element having at least one diffractive surface; a fourth optical element having at least one refractive surface; the first, second, and third optical elements being generally disposed along an optical axis; and wherein the second and third optical elements are optically intermediate the first and fourth optical elements. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. An optical system for magnifying the image on a cathode ray tube comprising:
-
means for generating an image on a cathode ray tube; a first optical element having first and second surfaces, the first surface being a diffractive surface and second surface being a refractive convex surface; a second optical element having third and fourth surfaces, the third surface being a refracting convex surface and the fourth surface being a refracting concave surface; a third optical element having a fifth and sixth surfaces, the fifth surface being a refractive surface and the sixth surface being a refractive convex surface; and wherein the combination of the first, second and third optical elements cooperate to form a biocular eyepiece for magnifying the image on the cathode ray tube.
-
Specification