Imaging device

• US 7,116,351 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2002
• Issued: 10/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yoshikawa, Koichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Philippe, Gims
• Assistant Examiner(s): REKSTAD, ERICK J
• Application Number:
  US10/281,523
• Publication Number:
  US 20030090788A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,436 Days
• Field of Search: 348/36, 396/20, 396/21, 396/427, 359/377, 359/403, 359/471, 359/725
• US Class Current: 348/36
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/06 Panoramic objectives; So-called "sky lenses" including panoramic objectives having reflecting surfaces

Abstract

An imaging device includes a plurality of plane mirrors disposed into a polygonal pyramid shape, and a plurality of cameras disposed so as to individually face to the plurality of plane mirrors, wherein each of the plurality of cameras includes a lens, and an incident angle of a light beam traveling along an optical axis of the lens of each of the plurality of cameras on the corresponding one of the plurality of plane mirrors is less than 45°. With this configuration, the sizes of the mirrors and the whole size of the imaging device are reduced, to thereby miniaturize the imaging device.

Claims

1. An imaging device comprising:

a plurality of plane mirrors disposed into a polygonal pyramid shape; and

a plurality of cameras disposed so as to individually face to said plurality of plane mirrors;

wherein each of said plurality of cameras includes a lens, and an incident angle of a light beam traveling along an optical axis of said lens of each of said plurality of cameras on the corresponding one of said plurality of plane mirrors is less than 45°

.

2. An imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a lens group composed of a plurality of lenses;

wherein said plane mirrors are disposed between said lens group and a lens group composed of said lenses of said plurality of cameras.

3. An imaging device comprising:

a plurality of plane mirrors disposed into a polygonal pyramid shape; and

a plurality of cameras disposed so as to individually face to said plurality of plane mirrors;

wherein each of said plurality of cameras includes a lens and an imaging element, and letting D be a diameter of a leading end portion of said lens of each of said plurality of cameras, “

f”

be a focal distance of said lens, and A be a diagonal length of said imaging element of each of said plurality of cameras, the values D, “

f” and

A are determined to satisfy equations of D/A<

4 and f/D>

0.15.

4. An imaging device comprising:

a plurality of plane mirrors disposed into a polygonal pyramid shape; and

a plurality of cameras disposed so as to individually face to said plurality of plane mirrors;

wherein each of said plurality of cameras includes a lens and an imaging element, and letting C be a distance between a corner of a leading end portion of said lens of each of said plurality of cameras and a light beam passing through an end, closest to said corner of said lens, of the field of imaging expressed by an angle of view, and A be a diagonal length of said imaging element of each of said plurality of cameras, the values C and A are determined to satisfy an equation of 0<

C<

2A.