Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Holdings Corporation

Jun Murata

Toshiaki Takano

Masaaki Sunohara

Takamasa Tamura

Michihiro Yamagata

Yasuhiro Tanaka

Yoshiyuki Shimizu

Kenji Inoue

Takayuki Kimoto

Shoji Nakamura

Takahisa Kondou

Katsuhiko Hayashi

Makoto Umetani

Kiyoshi Kuribayashi

Hideto Monji

Minoru Tachibana

Tetsuya Suzuki

Ryo Haseyama

Kazuaki Takagi

Toru Nanba

Osamu Doi

Yoshio Inoue

Yoshinori Shirafuzi

Chizuo Izumino

Ryo Kurosaki

An infrared lens unit includes a lens barrel and an infrared lens supported on the lens barrel. The lens barrel includes a tubular part extending along a central axis extending in upward and downward directions and having an inner circumferential surface surrounding the central axis and a through-hole therein demarcated by the inner circumferential surface, and a protruding part disposed on the inner circumferential surface of the tubular part. The infrared lens is supported by the tubular part via the protruding part. The infrared lens is made of chalcogenide glass. The protruding part includes, in a cross section of the protruding part on a plane on which the central axis extends a linear portion extending in an upward direction from its lower end to its upper end and a sloping portion including an upper end and a lower end located at the upper end of the linear portion. The first sloping portion is inclined with respect to the linear portion such that the first sloping portion is away from the central axis as extending from the lower end to the upper end of the first sloping portion. The infrared lens contacts the linear portion and the sloping portion of the protruding part.

Infrared lens unit and infrared detection device

An optical system includes: a lens group having an optical axis, a focal length of a first light, and a focal length of a second light; and a light splitter disposed at rear side of the lens group and splitting the first light and the second light incident from the lens group respectively, to guide the first light onto first imaging position and guide the second light onto second imaging position. The lens group includes lens elements transmitting the first light and the second light to match the first imaging position with the focal length of the first light and match the second imaging position with the focal length of the second light separately from the first imaging position. The lens element of the lens group is provided in front side of the light splitter with no lens element being provided in the rear side of the light splitter.

Optical system, imaging device, and imaging system

A method for manufacturing a lens which includes raised portions arranged on a surface of the lens with a pitch smaller than or equal to a predetermined pitch, and is configured to reduce reflection of light having a wavelength longer than or equal to the predetermined pitch includes preparing a molding die in which recessed portions corresponding to the raised portions are formed, filling a molten resin material into a cavity of the molding die via a gate, and curing the resin material in the molding die. The molding die includes a peripheral region in a periphery of the gate, and an adjacent region adjacent to the peripheral region. First recessed portions in the peripheral region are deeper than second recessed portions in the adjacent region.

Optical element, imaging apparatus including the same, and method for fabricating the same

A lens is obtained by injection molding. The lens includes a plurality of projections arranged on a surface at a pitch smaller than or equal to a predetermined value to reduce reflection of light with a wavelength equal to or greater than the pitch, and a gate mark formed on an outer periphery of the optical element in the injection molding. A peripheral portion of the surface includes a first region whose circumferential position corresponds to the gate mark, and a second region being adjacent to the first region. A pitch of first projections in the first region is greater than a pitch of second projections in the second region.

Optical element, imaging apparatus including the element, and method of manufacturing the optical element

A lens is obtained by injection molding. The lens includes a plurality of projections arranged on a surface at a pitch smaller than or equal to a predetermined value to reduce reflection of light with a wavelength equal to or greater than the pitch, and a gate mark formed on an outer periphery of the optical element in the injection molding. A peripheral portion of the surface includes a first region whose circumferential position corresponds to the gate mark, and a second region being adjacent to the first region. Axes of first projections in the first region are inclined more outward than axes of second projections in the second region.

A lens includes a first optical surface including an optical axis X, and a first cut end surface at an outer circumference of the first optical surface. The first optical surface has a first SWS configured to reduce reflection of light. The first cut end surface has a second SWS configured to reduce reflection of light. A reflectance of the second SWS with respect to light having a predetermined wavelength is higher than the reflectance of the first SWS with respect to the light having the predetermined wavelength.

Optical element and imaging apparatus including the same

The present invention relates to composite optical elements, and particularly to a composite optical element including a first optical component and a second optical component coupled to the first optical component. The present invention is advantageous in enhancing optical properties. A composite optical element () includes a first optical component () and a second optical component (). The first optical component () is made of first glass and has a lens surface (). The second optical component () is made of a material different from the first glass, is coupled to the first optical component () at a lens surface (), and has a lens surface () at a side opposite to the first coupling surface (). The lens surface () partially has a first uneven region (). The lens surface () partially has a second uneven region ().

Composite optical element

The present invention relates to a composite lens and a method for manufacturing the same, particularly to a composite lens in which a second lens component is coupled to a first lens component at part of a first surface, and intends to improve optical characteristics. A composite lens () has a first lens component () and a second lens component (). The first lens component () has a first surface including a first lens surface (), a peripheral surface () surrounding the first lens surface () and a ring surface () included in the peripheral surface () and surrounding the first lens surface (), and a second lens surface () on the opposite side of the first lens surface (). The second lens component () is coupled to the first lens component () at part of the first surface surrounded by the ring surface (). The ring surface () is positioned on a portion of the first lens component protruding from a joint portion () between the first lens surface () and the peripheral surface () in a first direction from the second lens surface () to the first lens surface () along an optical axis of the first lens component () and is exposed out of the second lens component ().

Composite lens and method for manufacturing the same

The present invention relates to composite optical elements, and particularly to a composite optical element in which second and third optical components are coupled to a first optical component. The present invention is advantageous in enhancing optical properties. A composite optical element () includes first, second and third optical components (). The first optical component () has a lens surface (). The second optical component () is coupled to the first optical component () at the lens surface () and has a lens surface () at a side opposite to a first coupling surface () at which the second optical component () is coupled to the first optical component (). The third optical component () is coupled to the second optical component () at the lens surface () and has a lens surface () at a side opposite to a second coupling surface () at which the third optical component () is coupled to the second optical component (). The lens surface () partially has a first uneven region (). The lens surface () partially has a third uneven region (). The lens surface () partially has a third uneven region ().

A complex optical element includes a first optical portion and a second optical portion which are made of materials different from each other. The second optical portion is bonded to an optical functional face of the first optical portion. A concavoconvex face part is formed at the central part of the bond area between the first optical portion and the second optical portion.

Complex optical element and optical pickup

The present invention belongs to a technical field related to a composite optical element including a first optical component and a second optical component coupled to the first optical component. In a composite optical elementincluding a first optical componentand a second optical componentcoupled to the first optical component, shape accuracy of the second optical componentis improved to prevent reduction in optical performance. A ring member () is placed on a peripheral portion of a lens surface () of the first optical component (), the ring member () having a height hfrom the lens surface () substantially uniform in a circumferential direction of the first optical component ().

Composite optical element and method for manufacturing the same

A method for manufacturing preforms used in molding optical elements includes: (1) forming an array made from a material for optical elements, in which a plurality of preform portions used in molding optical elements are connected; (2) applying vibration to the outer peripheral part of the preform portion in the thickness direction of the array by a pair of punches; and then (3) punching the preform portions.

Method for manufacturing preforms used in molding optical elements and

A method for making optical preforms of optical elements without residual stress or distortion is provided. In this method, an optical material is supplied between upper and lower molds. The upper mold has a plurality of recesses arranged in a predetermined pitch, and each recess corresponds to a first surface shape of the optical element. The lower mold has a plurality of recesses facing the recesses of the upper mold and each recess of the lower mold corresponds to a second surface shape of the optical element. The supplied optical material is pressed between the upper and lower molds to be a set of optical preforms. The set of optical preforms is processed by die punching or tool cutting to separate each optical preform from the set of optical preforms. Each optical preform is used for producing an optical element by further pressing. Alternatively, optical element can be formed directly by the press molding process.

Method for making optical preforms and optical elements by press

Optical material, which was already roughly molded, is deposited into a space defined by a top mold, a bottom mold and a drum mold, and is then heated, pressed and molded, thus providing an optical element. By controlling the rate of plastic deformation of the optical material so as to prevent the material from entering clearance sections between the outside diameter of the top mold or of the bottom mold and the inside diameter of the drum mold, an optical element of high precision with no burr nor strain is provided at low cost.

Method and device for manufacturing optical elements

In an objective lens for an optical head apparatus for reading or writing an information on a recording medium such as optical disc, astigmatism is added on axial wavefront aberration so that off-axis astigmatism is to be cancelled by the axial astigmatism. At least one surface of the objective lens is a toric or cylindrical surface, and a standard deviation of astigmatism component of axial wavefront aberration is defined as Wa is to be restricted in a range of 0&lt;Wa&lt;0.07.lambda. (.lambda. is a wavelength of a light to be used). When the objective lens moves in a radial direction of the optical disc, a light beam enters into the objective lens in an off-axis region where the aberration is compensated by the axial astigmatism.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Jun Murata