Method and apparatus for monocentric projection of an image
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for forming a curved image comprising:
- (a) a spherical mirror having a mirror center of curvature;
(b) a beamsplitter disposed between the vertex of said spherical mirror and said mirror center of curvature;
(c) an image source for providing image-bearing light to said spherical mirror;
said spherical mirror cooperating with said beamsplitter to form an intermediate image of said image source, said intermediate image having an image center of curvature; and
(d) a ball lens segment, centered at said image center of curvature, for forming the curved image from said intermediate image.
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Abstract
A monocentric image generation system (100) for forming a curved image (110) using a spherical mirror (92), a beamsplitter (102) and a ball lens assembly (30) and, optionally, a field lens (112). An image source (94) provides a source image through an aperture stop location (96) at the center of curvature Cs of the spherical mirror (92). The beamsplitter (102) provides the resulting intermediate image (90) so that it is concentric with the ball lens assembly (30) in order to form the curved image (110).
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. An apparatus for forming a curved image comprising:
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(a) a spherical mirror having a mirror center of curvature;
(b) a beamsplitter disposed between the vertex of said spherical mirror and said mirror center of curvature;
(c) an image source for providing image-bearing light to said spherical mirror;
said spherical mirror cooperating with said beamsplitter to form an intermediate image of said image source, said intermediate image having an image center of curvature; and
(d) a ball lens segment, centered at said image center of curvature, for forming the curved image from said intermediate image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for forming a curved image comprising:
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(a) a spherical mirror having a mirror center of curvature;
(b) a beamsplitter disposed between the vertex of said spherical mirror and said mirror center of curvature;
(c) an image source for providing image-bearing light to said spherical mirror;
said spherical mirror cooperating with said beamsplitter to form an intermediate image of said image source, said intermediate image having an image center of curvature;
(d) a field lens disposed near said intermediate image for imaging said minor center of curvature toward said image center of curvature; and
(e) a ball lens segment, centered at said image center of curvature, for forming the curved image from said intermediate image. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for forming a pair of curved images, comprising a left image generation system for forming a left curved image and a right image generation system for forming a right curved image, each image generation system comprising:
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(a) a spherical mirror having a mirror center of curvature;
(b) a beamsplitter disposed between the vertex of said spherical mirror and said mirror center of curvature;
(c) an image source for providing image-bearing light to said spherical mirror;
said spherical mirror cooperating with said beamsplitter to form an intermediate image of said image source, said intermediate image having an image center of curvature; and
(d) a ball lens segment, centered at said image center of curvature, for forming the curved image from said intermediate image. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. An apparatus for forming a pair of curved images, comprising a left image generation system for forming a left curved image and a right image generation system for forming a right curved image, each image generation system comprising:
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(a) a spherical mirror having a mirror center of curvature;
(b) a beamsplitter disposed between the vertex of said spherical mirror and said mirror center of curvature;
(c) an image source for providing image-bearing light to said spherical mirror;
said spherical mirror cooperating with said beamsplitter to form an intermediate image of said image source, said intermediate image having an image center of curvature;
(d) a field lens disposed near said intermediate image for imaging said mirror center of curvature toward said image center of curvature; and
(e) a ball lens segment, centered at said image center of curvature, for forming the curved image from said intermediate image. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method for forming a curved image comprising:
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(a) directing an image-bearing light toward a spherical mirror;
(b) forming a curved intermediate image having an intermediate image center of curvature by positioning a beamsplitter between the vertex of said spherical mirror and the center of curvature of said spherical mirror; and
(c) positioning a ball lens segment centered near said intermediate image center of curvature for forming the curved image. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
(a) positioning a field lens disposed near said intermediate image for imaging the center of curvature of said spherical mirror toward said intermediate image center of curvature, thereby imaging the center of curvature of said spherical mirror toward the center of curvature of said ball lens segment.
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49. A method for forming a curved image according to claim 47 wherein the step of directing an image-bearing light toward a spherical mirror comprises the step of forming an image on a CRT display.
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50. A method for forming a curved image according to claim 47 wherein the step of directing an image-bearing light toward a spherical mirror comprises the step of forming an image on an emissive display.
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51. A method for forming a curved image according to claim 47 wherein the step of directing an image-bearing light toward a spherical mirror comprises the step of forming an image on an LCD display.
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52. A method for forming a curved image according to claim 47 wherein the step of positioning a beamsplitter comprises the step of positioning a pellicle between the vertex of said spherical mirror and the center of curvature of said spherical mirror.
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53. A method for forming a curved image according to claim 47 wherein the step of directing an image-bearing light comprises the step of positioning a focusing optical element adjacent to the surface of an image source for providing said image-bearing light as a substantially telecentric beam.
Specification