Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Marco A J Van As

Stein Kuiper

Bernardus H W Hendriks

Ivon Franciscus Helwegen

Christina Adriana Renders

Albert H J Immink

A controllable optical lens system, comprises a chamber housing first and second fluids, the interface between the fluids defining a lens surface. An electrode arrangement controls the shape of the lens surface and has first and second electrodes. A parameter is determined by the system dependent on the electrical resistance through at least one of the lens fluids between the first and second electrodes. Thus, the series resistance through a lens fluid is used as a measure of meniscus position.

Controllable optical lens

The present invention discloses an optical device comprising a container enclosing an insulating liquid (A) and an electrically susceptible liquid (B), the insulating liquid (A) and the electrically susceptible liquid (B) being immiscible and being in contact with each other via an interface (), at least one of the liquids (A; B) being at least partially placed in a light path through the container. The optical device further comprises heating means () that preferably are responsive to a temperature sensor () for heating the insulating liquid (A) and the electrically susceptible liquid (B). Consequently, an optical device is obtained in which the influence of the temperature dependence of the physical properties of the insulating liquid (A) and the electrically susceptible liquid (B) on the behavior of the optical device is reduced, thus yielding an optical device with improved optical characteristics at low temperatures.

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Eindhoven, Netherlands

Marco A J Van As