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WO2008138005A1 - Lentille fluidique avec foyer réglable manuellement - Google Patents

Lentille fluidique avec foyer réglable manuellement Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2008138005A1
WO2008138005A1 PCT/US2008/063107 US2008063107W WO2008138005A1 WO 2008138005 A1 WO2008138005 A1 WO 2008138005A1 US 2008063107 W US2008063107 W US 2008063107W WO 2008138005 A1 WO2008138005 A1 WO 2008138005A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
membrane
fluidic lens
inner ring
ring
radius
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2008/063107
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Robert G. Batchko
Andrei Szilagyi
Original Assignee
Holochip Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US11/747,845 external-priority patent/US7672059B2/en
Application filed by Holochip Corporation filed Critical Holochip Corporation
Priority to JP2010507670A priority Critical patent/JP2010527035A/ja
Priority to EP08780605A priority patent/EP2162769A4/fr
Publication of WO2008138005A1 publication Critical patent/WO2008138005A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B3/00—Simple or compound lenses
    • G02B3/12—Fluid-filled or evacuated lenses
    • G02B3/14—Fluid-filled or evacuated lenses of variable focal length
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B7/00—Mountings, adjusting means, or light-tight connections, for optical elements
    • G02B7/02—Mountings, adjusting means, or light-tight connections, for optical elements for lenses
    • G02B7/04—Mountings, adjusting means, or light-tight connections, for optical elements for lenses with mechanism for focusing or varying magnification

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to optics. More particularly, it relates to fluidic optical devices.
  • Figure 1 is a cross-sectional diagram of a fluidic lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 2 is a graph depicting membrane profiles for various radii of curvature for a fluidic lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 3 is a graph illustrating an effect of radius of curvature on strain balancing in a fluidic lens membrane according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 4 is a graph illustrating relationships between lens radius and membrane anchor radius using extremes of strain balancing.
  • Figure 5 is a graph illustrating membrane profiles for fluidic lenses with pistons of different widths.
  • Figure 6 is a three-dimensional cut-away diagram of a manually adjustable fluidic lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a fluidic lens may have a transparent window member; a transparent distensible membrane; an inner ring between the transparent window member and the membrane; a layer of liquid stored between the window member, the inner ring and the membrane; and a piston ring disposed such that the membrane is between the piston ring and the inner ring.
  • the piston ring may be adapted to apply a liquid displacement force to the membrane in a direction perpendicular to a plane of an aperture of the inner ring to cause a change in a radius of curvature of the membrane.
  • the piston ring may be characterized by an aperture radius and an annular thickness, wherein the annular thickness is greater than about 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, or 100% of the annular radius.
  • the inner ring may have a conic frustum shaped inner surface characterized by a half angle.
  • the outer ring may also have a conic frustum shaped outer surface characterized by a half angle that is substantially the same as the half angle for the inner surface of the inner ring.
  • An outer edge of the piston ring may be threaded.
  • a surrounding structure may be adapted to receive the inner ring, membrane and piston ring, the surrounding structure having inner threads that mate with the threads at the outer edge of the piston ring.
  • actuated fluidic lens structures described in commonly owned patent applications may be based on a fluid- filled chamber capable of squeezing transparent fluid into a centrally-disposed elastic-membrane-delimited lens. Pressurization of the fluid causes the membranes to bulge, thereby controllably altering the optical power of the lens. The elastic energy of the membranes provides the restoring force which prevails, once the actuating force is diminished.
  • Embodiments of the present invention are related to a family of fluidic optical devices with expanded applicability.
  • a fluidic lens 100 may comprise a ring shaped piston (piston ring or top ring) 102 that indents the surface of a transparent membrane 104 which separates an inner space filled with a liquid 105 from ambient air. Displacement of the liquid 105 - the liquid being essentially incompressible - causes a central portion of the membrane 104 to bulge outwardly into an energy-minimizing shape. In the case of a thin membrane, the stretching of the membrane is associated with an increase in hydrostatic pressure, for which the energy minimizing shape is a simple spherical cap as seen in Figure 1.
  • An immovable portion of the membrane 104 may be anchored between an Outer Ring (not shown) and an Inner Ring 106.
  • the inner ring 106 has an inner surface that provides a lateral boundary for the refractive fluid.
  • the Inner Ring 106 may include one or more reservoirs in fluid communication with an aperture region of fluidic lens 100.
  • the inner ring 106 may have a conic- frustum inner surface 107, which forms a lateral boundary of the refractive fluid 105.
  • the top ring 102 may have an outer edge with a conic-frustum surface 103.
  • the remaining fluid boundary may be provided by a Back Window 108.
  • the Back Window is sometimes referred to as a Round Blank.
  • the Membrane 104 may extend over an edge of the Back Window 108 as seen in FIG. 1.
  • the Membrane 104 may be mechanically secured and hermetically sealed to the Back Window 108, e.g., by an adhesive.
  • the Back Window 108 (or at least a portion thereof) may be made of a deformable, e.g., elastomeric or deformable polymer material and may act as a second membrane in a manner similar to the transparent membrane 104.
  • the Fluidic Lens 100 may include an optional back Membrane 104A. Examples of such configurations are described, e.g., in US Patent Application Publication 20070030573 and US Patent Application Publication 20070263292, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • the Inner Ring 106 may be made of a rigid material, such as a metal or rigid polymer.
  • the Inner Ring 106 (or at least a portion thereof) may be made of a deformable material, e.g., an elastomer or deformable polymer. If the Inner Ring 106 is deformable, an outer diameter of the Top Ring 102 may be sufficiently large compared to the outer diameter of the Inner Ring 106 that the Top Ring 102 may press upon and deform the Inner Ring 106, thereby exerting a displacement force on the Liquid 105.
  • the Outer Diameter of the Top Ring 102 may be equal to or greater than the Outer diameter of the Inner Ring 106.
  • Inner Ring 106 includes a reservoir, some of the Liquid 105 may be expelled from the reservoir into the aperture region of the Fluidic Lens 100 when the Top Ring 102 presses upon the Inner Ring 106, thereby causing a displacement of the Membrane 104.
  • an optional Front Window 110 is also shown in Figure 1, in Figure 1, and this front Window 110.
  • this front Window 110 may serve a number of functions, such as mechanical protection of the elastomeric membrane, wavelength or polarization filtering, additional fixed refraction, etc. Such functions may alternatively be performed by the Back Window 108.
  • FIG. 1 Another feature visible in Figure 1 is the presence of lead screw threads 112 around the outer edges of the Top Ring 102. These threads 112 may be configured to mate to corresponding threads on an inner edge of a surrounding structure (not shown). When the Top Ring 102 is rotated relative to the surrounding structure (or vice versa), the mating threads on the surrounding structure (not shown) cause the ring to advance or recede against the membrane 104, thus adjusting the optical power of the fluidic lens 100.
  • the membrane 104 should be capable of stretching elastically, should be durable enough to have a lifetime suitable for its application. For example, in a cell phone camera application the membrane 104 should have a lifetime of several years and move than about one million cycles of operation.
  • the membrane 104 may be made of a silicone -based polymer such as poly(dimethylsiloxane) also known as PDMS or a polyester material such as PET or MylarTM. It is noted that if the fluid 105 and membrane 104 have sufficiently similar refractive indices, or include a suitable optical coating, scattering of light at their interface can be significantly reduced.
  • a silicone -based polymer such as poly(dimethylsiloxane) also known as PDMS or a polyester material such as PET or MylarTM.
  • the fluid 105 may be silicone oil (e.g., Bis-Phenylpropyl Dimethicone). Additionally, fluid 105 may include fluorinated polymers such as perfluorinated poly ether (PFPE) inert fluid.
  • PFPE perfluorinated poly ether
  • the chemical chains of PFPE fluids such as Fomblin include fluorine, carbon and oxygen and have desirable properties including low vapor pressure, chemical inertness, high thermal stability, good lubricant properties, no flash or fire point, low toxicity, excellent compatibility with metals, plastics and elastomers, good aqueous and non-aqueous solvent resistance, high dielectric properties, low surface tension, good radiation stability and are environmentally acceptable.
  • Rho is fairly constant as the dimensionless radius of curvature varies, except where R approaches T 1 , i.e. the spherical cap approaches a hemispherical shape. This behavior of Rho(p) is illustrated in Figure 3.
  • Rho The asymptotic value of Rho is given by: i
  • the asymptotic value may be used with less than 2% error for dimensionless radii of curvature down to about 2.
  • the other extreme is given by:
  • the dimensionality of the membrane outer radius may first be restored as follows:
  • the design of the fluid lens may be optimized for various objectives.
  • the membrane profile is graphically displayed in Figure 5 in a way that facilitates design trade-off between Top Ring stroke and device footprint.
  • fluidic lens membrane profiles are shown for lenses having pistons with different radial widths, thereby illustrating the effect of piston radial width on membrane profile
  • the lowest flat portion of each trace in Figure 5 corresponds to the area where the piston face (e.g. the lower portion of the top ring) contacts the membrane.
  • a height of zero designates a starting level of the membrane just before the Top Ring piston impinges on it. In this approximation, the amount of fluid initially contained in the lens is just sufficient to be contained by a flat membrane.
  • Figure 6 shows the cross section of a manually adjustable fluidic lens 600 in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
  • the fluidic lens 600 additionally includes a knurled Grip 602, bearing angular markings to be read against a Reference marking 604.
  • the Grip 602 is manually rotatable by a user to adjust the optical power of the fluidic lens 600.
  • the Grip 602 is mounted in fixed relationship to an Outer Ring 606.
  • the Outer Ring 606, in turn, is slidably engaged with the Top Ring 102, so that a pure rotation of the former results in combined rotation and translation of the latter.
  • the relative movement between the Top Ring 102 and the Membrane ⁇ 104 is one of pure translation, whereby refractive adjustment is enabled without friction between these components.
  • this device may be interfaced to the user's optical system by means of lens mounts engaging a Barrel portion 608 of the lens.
  • This Barrel 608 may feature standardized threads, grooves or flats suitable for mating features of the lens mounts.
  • screw threads may be provided to engage mounting posts.
  • Figure 6 One such thread is shown in Figure 6 near the Reference marking 604.
  • the force of gravity may present a challenge to fluidic lens that is not normally associated with conventional lenses.
  • the shape of the membrane 104 may depend on the orientation of lens with respect to the force of gravity.
  • gravity acts on the fluid in a way that causes the fluid to exert a greater fluid pressure on lower regions than on upper regions.
  • the pressure differential generally does not present a problem if the Fluidic lens is held substantially horizontal.
  • lenses are often used in a vertical or tilted orientation.
  • the force of gravity acting on the Liquid 105 may lead to asymmetries in the shape of the Membrane 104. For example, if the Fluidic lens is oriented such that its optical axis is more or less horizontal, lower portions of the may be more convex more than upper portions. Such asymmetries may lead to lens aberrations, such as coma.
  • the Membrane 104 may be pre-tensioned to a degree sufficient to counteract the effect of gravity. Pre-tensioning of the Membrane 104 may also serve to raise a resonant frequency of the Membrane 104 (and, hence of the Fluidic lens 100) thereby making them less susceptible to transient aberrations due vibrations or acceleration of the lens.
  • the required degree of pre-tensioning may be determined empirically by measuring optical aberrations or susceptibility to vibration or acceleration as a function of membrane pre-tensioning.
  • the pre-tensioning of the Membrane is sufficient to overcome asymmetry in the shape of the Membrane 104 when the Fluidic Lens 100 is in a vertical or tilted orientation.
  • the Membrane 104 may be pre-tensioned before assembly with the other components of the Fluidic Lens 100. Specifically, the Membrane may be placed over the Outer Ring 606. A tension may be applied to the
  • the Inner Ring 106 may then be placed on the Membrane 104 and the Liquid 105 may be placed in the aperture of the Inner Ring 106.
  • the Back Window 108 may then be placed over the Inner Ring 106 with the Liquid 105 retained between the Membrane 104, the Inner Ring 106 and the Back Window 108.
  • the Back Window 108 and Inner Ring 106 may then be pressed into the Outer Ring 606.
  • Adhesive may optionally be placed on the edge of the Back Window 108 prior to pressing to secure the Membrane 104 in place and retain its pre-tensioned condition.
  • the Membrane may be held in place by friction between the Inner Ring 106 and Outer Ring 606 if the fit between the Inner Ring 106 and the Outer Ring 608 is sufficiently tight.
  • Adjustable fluidic lenses according to embodiments of the present invention may be used in numerous ways by optical researchers, engineers and other users of optical systems. Other uses include telescopes of civilian and military use, medical systems such as used by optometrists to test the vision of patients, etc.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Light Control Or Optical Switches (AREA)

Abstract

Une lentille fluidique peut posséder un élément fenêtre transparent, une membrane extensible transparente, une bague intérieure entre l'élément fenêtre et la membrane et une bague supérieure placée de sorte que la membrane soit entre la bague de piston et la bague intérieure. Une couche de liquide peut être stockée entre l'élément fenêtre, la bague intérieure et la membrane. La bague supérieure peut être conçue pour appliquer une force de déplacement de liquide sur la membrane perpendiculairement à un plan d'une ouverture de la bague intérieure afin d'entraîner une modification du rayon de courbure de la membrane. La membrane peut être pré-tendue avant son assemblage avec les autres composants.
PCT/US2008/063107 2007-05-08 2008-05-08 Lentille fluidique avec foyer réglable manuellement WO2008138005A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2010507670A JP2010527035A (ja) 2007-05-08 2008-05-08 焦点を手動で調整可能な流体レンズ
EP08780605A EP2162769A4 (fr) 2007-05-08 2008-05-08 Lentille fluidique avec foyer réglable manuellement

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US91673907P 2007-05-08 2007-05-08
US60/916,739 2007-05-08
US11/747,845 2007-05-11
US11/747,845 US7672059B2 (en) 2000-10-20 2007-05-11 Fluidic lens with electrostatic actuation

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2008138005A1 true WO2008138005A1 (fr) 2008-11-13

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2008/063107 WO2008138005A1 (fr) 2007-05-08 2008-05-08 Lentille fluidique avec foyer réglable manuellement

Country Status (1)

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WO (1) WO2008138005A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7672059B2 (en) * 2000-10-20 2010-03-02 Holochip Corporation Fluidic lens with electrostatic actuation
CN110955010A (zh) * 2019-12-12 2020-04-03 东莞市亚登电子有限公司 液态镜头对焦和防抖机构、摄像模块和电子设备

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5973852A (en) * 1998-03-26 1999-10-26 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Variable power fluid lens
US6618208B1 (en) * 1998-03-19 2003-09-09 Joshua David Silver Variable focus optical devices
US20060126190A1 (en) * 2004-11-24 2006-06-15 Varioptic S.A. Lens of variable focal length

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6618208B1 (en) * 1998-03-19 2003-09-09 Joshua David Silver Variable focus optical devices
US5973852A (en) * 1998-03-26 1999-10-26 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Variable power fluid lens
US20060126190A1 (en) * 2004-11-24 2006-06-15 Varioptic S.A. Lens of variable focal length

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See also references of EP2162769A4 *

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7672059B2 (en) * 2000-10-20 2010-03-02 Holochip Corporation Fluidic lens with electrostatic actuation
CN110955010A (zh) * 2019-12-12 2020-04-03 东莞市亚登电子有限公司 液态镜头对焦和防抖机构、摄像模块和电子设备

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