Eccentric optical system and optical apparatus using same

• US 7,196,315 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2004
• Issued: 03/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Takahashi, Koichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu; Thanh X.
• Assistant Examiner(s): YAM, STEPHEN K
• Application Number:
  US10/852,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20050018321A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,036 Days
• Field of Search: 250/216, 250/208.1, 359/629, 359638-640, 359/833, 359/834, 396/272, 396/276, 396/384
• US Class Current: 250/216
• 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

An eccentric optical system forming an optical path where an incident light beam is internally reflected three times to fold the optical path, and then emitted from a transmission surface and imaged on an image surface, and an optical path where the incident light beam is internally reflected two times to fold the optical path, and then emitted from a branching surface and imaged on an image surface. At least two surfaces of the optical operating surfaces are rotationally asymmetric surfaces.

Claims

1. An eccentric optical system having an approximately parallel input light beam, and comprising a prism having a medium with a refractive index of one or more, on which at least four optical operating surfaces are formed at the boundary surface of the medium,

wherein assuming the optical operating surfaces are referred to as a first, second, third, fourth, . . . , and n-th (“

n”

is a natural number) surface along an optical path of the input light, at least one surface of the first through fourth surfaces is a branching surface wherein the optical path is branched into two optical paths for transmitted light and reflected light, and

wherein an optical path is formed wherein the primary light beam on the axis of the reflected light reflected by the branching surface intersects with the primary light beam on the axes of at least two light beams passing through the prism.

4. The eccentric optical system according to claim 1, wherein the second surface comprises a rotationally asymmetric surface having a positive power.

5. The eccentric optical system according to claim 1, wherein the third surface comprises a rotationally asymmetric surface having a negative power.

9. The eccentric optical system according to claim 1, wherein when a paraxial focal distance is assumed as F, the following conditional expression is satisfied:

60(mm)≦

F≦

500(mm).

10. The eccentric optical system according to claim 1, wherein when a paraxial focal distance is assumed as F, and an incident aperture diameter is assumed as D, a ratio F/D satisfies the following conditional expression:

2≦

F/D≦

5.

11. The eccentric optical system according to claim 1, wherein there is provided an optical device which forms a light beam after formation of a true image outside the prism, into an approximately parallel light beam, and has a positive power which forms an emitting aperture at a required position.

12. The eccentric optical system according to claim 11, wherein there is provided a light-condensing device which images the light beam after formation of the emitting aperture, onto a plight receiving surface.

13. The eccentric optical system according to claim 1, wherein

the prism comprises four optical operating surfaces, and wherein

of the four optical operating surfaces, at least one surface is the branching surface wherein the optical path is branched into two of the optical paths for transmitted light and reflected light, and a true image is formed in each of the optical paths branched at the branching surface.

14. An optical apparatus wherein the input light is an approximately parallel light beam, comprising:

a light-condensing unit having an eccentric optical system according to claim 11, and a light-deflecting device which deflects a light beam forming the emitting aperture in the eccentric optical system, in the vicinity of the position of the emitting aperture, and guides it to one of light receiving surfaces;

a position detection device which detects a light receiving position of the light beam guided to the one of light receiving surface and outputs a detection signal;

a movement mechanism which movably holds the light-condensing unit; and

a position control device which controls the amount of movement of the movement mechanism in response to the detection output from the position detection device, or an amount of deflection of the light-deflecting device, or both.

15. The optical apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the movement mechanism is provided with a gimbal stage.

16. The optical apparatus according to claim 14, wherein an actual aperture of the eccentric optical system is integrated with an exterior of the light-condensing unit.

17. The optical apparatus according to claim 14,

wherein the position detection device is provided in one of the light receiving surfaces, and in another of the light receiving surfaces, and

the position control device provides coarse movement of the movement mechanism in response to one detection output from the position detection device, and fine movement of the movement mechanism in response to another detection output of the position detection device.

18. The optical apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the position detection device is provided with a modulating photodetector device which constitutes a light receiving part in transmission of optical signals through space.

19. An optical apparatus for special optical communications, comprising a photodetector positioned at a position of an image of the eccentric optical system according to claim 1.

2. An eccentric optical system having an approximately parallel input light beam, and comprising a prism having a medium with a refractive index of one or more, on which five optical operating surfaces are formed at the boundary surface of the medium,

wherein, assuming the five optical operating surfaces are referred to as a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth surface along the optical path of the input light, at least one surface of the first through fifth surfaces is a branching surface wherein the optical path is branched into two optical paths for transmitted light and reflected light, and

a true image is formed in each of the optical paths branched at the branching surfaced

wherein an optical path is formed wherein the primary light beam reflected by the second surface towards the third surface on the axis and the primary light beam reflected by the fourth surface towards the fifth surface on the axis, each intersect the primary light beam transmitted through the first surface towards the second surface on the axis.

3. The eccentric optical system according to claim 2,

wherein the first surface is a transmission surface which transmits the input light, the second surface and the third surface are internal reflection surfaces which reflect the light beam passing inside the medium inside the medium, the fourth surface is the branching surface which branches the optical path into two of the optical paths of transmitted light and reflected light, the fifth surface is a transmission surface which transmits the reflected light reflected by the fourth surface, and at least two surfaces of these five optical operating surfaces are rotationally asymmetric surfaces, and

at least one true image is formed outside the prism.

6. The eccentric optical system according to claim 2, wherein an arrangement of the first through fifth surfaces in the peripheral direction of the prism is such that at least one surface between the first surface and the second surface, between the second surface and the third surface, between the third surface and the fourth surface, and between the fourth surface and the fifth surface, is provided with another optical operating surface.

7. The eccentric optical system according to claim 2, wherein when, with a plane orthogonal to the primary light beam on the axis of the input light as an inclined datum surface, the angle of inclination of a tangential plane at a position intersecting the primary light beam on the axis on the second surface is θ

1, and the angle of inclination of a tangential plane at a position intersecting the primary light beam on the axis on the third surface is θ

2, the following conditional expression is satisfied;

30°

≦

|θ

2−

θ

1|≦

80°

.

8. The eccentric optical system according to claim 2, wherein when, with a plane orthogonal to the primary light beam on the axis of the input light as an inclined datum surface, the angle of inclination of a tangential plane at a position intersecting the primary light beam on the axis on the fourth surface is θ

3, and the angle of inclination of a tangential plane at a position intersecting the primary light beam on the axis on the fifth surface is θ

4, the following conditional expression is satisfied;

|θ

4−

θ

3|≦

30°

.

20. An eccentric optical system having an approximately parallel input light beam, and comprising a prism having a medium with a refractive index of one or more, on which five optical operating surfaces are formed at the boundary surface of the medium,

wherein, assuming the five optical operating surfaces are referred to as a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth surface along the optical path of the input light, at least one surface of the first through fifth surfaces is a branching surface wherein the optical path is branched into two optical paths for transmitted light and reflected light, and

a true image is formed in each of the optical paths branched at the branching surface, and

wherein assuming the five optical operating surfaces are referred to as the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth surfaces along the optical path of the input light,

the branching surface is provided as the fourth surface, and

a primary light beam reflected by the fourth intersecting with a primary light beam transmitted through the first surface towards the second surface on the axis, and a primary light beam reflected by the second surface towards the third surface on the axis.