Decentering optical system and optical system using the same

• US 7,113,349 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2005
• Issued: 09/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Takahashi, Koichi
• Primary Examiner(s): THOMPSON, TIMOTHY J
• Application Number:
  US11/210,746
• Publication Number:
  US 20060152821A1
• Time in Patent Office: 397 Days
• Field of Search: 359/726, 359/637, 359/631, 359/630, 359/632, 359/633, 359/636, 359/640, 359/833
• US Class Current: 359/726
• 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 17/0832 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

Abstract

A decentering optical system which takes a substantially parallel beam as input light, includes a prism having a medium whose refractive index is greater than 1, and four optical surfaces disposed at boundary surfaces of the medium so as to be mutually decentering or to slant. The four optical surfaces form a light-incident surface through which the input light enters, at least two internal-reflective surfaces which reflect internally the input light entering inside, a splitting surface which splits an optical path of the input light reflected by any one of these internal-reflective surfaces, into a transmission optical path and a reflection optical path; and a transmitting surface which emits the input light traveling along the reflection optical path towards an exterior. Real images are formed along each of the transmission optical path and the reflection optical path.

Claims

1. A decentering optical system which takes a substantially parallel beam as input light, comprising:

a prism having a medium whose refractive index is greater than 1; and

four optical surfaces disposed at boundary surfaces of the medium so as to be mutually decentering or to slant, wherein;

the four optical surfaces form;

a light-incident surface through which the input light enters;

at least two internal-reflective surfaces which reflect internally the input light entering inside;

a splitting surface which splits an optical path of the input light reflected by any one of these internal-reflective surfaces, into a transmission optical path and a reflection optical path; and

a transmitting surface which emits the input light traveling along the reflection optical path towards an exterior; and

real images are formed along each of the transmission optical path and the reflection optical path.

2. The decentering optical system according to claim 1, wherein

when the four optical surfaces are defined, in order of appearance from the first time along one optical path in which the input light travels, as a first surface, a second surface, a third surface, and a fourth surface,

if it is configured such that:

the first surface forms the light-incident surface and one of the internal-reflective surfaces;

the second surface forms another of the internal-reflective surfaces;

the third surface forms the splitting surface; and

the fourth surface forms the transmitting surface,

the one optical path includes an optical path in which the input light passing through the first surface is reflected internally by the second surface and travels towards the first surface, and then is reflected internally by the first surface and travels towards the third surface.

3. The decentering optical system according to claim 1, wherein

at least two of the four optical surfaces are formed by rotationally asymmetric surfaces.

4. The decentering optical system according to claim 1, wherein:

the real images include a first real image formed at an exterior of the prism along the transmission optical path, and a second real image formed at an interior of the prism along the reflection optical path; and

light emitted from the transmitting surface after forming the second real image becomes substantially parallel light, thereby forming an exit pupil at the exterior of the prism.

5. The decentering optical system according to claim 4, further comprising:

a light-condensing element disposed on optical path after forming the exit pupil; and

a light-receiving device disposed at a condensing position of the light-condensing element.

6. The decentering optical system according to claim 1, wherein

when a paraxial focal length is termed F, and an entrance pupil diameter is termed D, the following Equation (1) is satisfied:

1≦

F/D≦

10 

 

(1).

7. An optical system comprising a light-receiving device which receives substantially parallel light entering from an exterior thereof, as an input light, wherein

the light-receiving device includes the decentering optical system according to claim 1.