Pioneer Corporation

Pioneer Electronic Corporation

Sony Corporation

Takuma Yanagisawa

Masakazu Ogasawara

Hiroki Kuribayashi

Makoto Sato

Seiichi Ohsawa

Takanori Ochiai

Ryo Izuta

Akinori Ohkubo

Shogo Miyanabe

Takayuki Nomoto

Katsuhiro Koike

Yasuo Tanahashi

Hiroshi Ogawa

Takanori Maeda

Fumihiko Yokogawa

Yoshitsugu Araki

Masayuki Iwasaki

Takanobu Higuchi

Yasumitsu Wada

Sakashi Ohtaki

Ayumi Mitsumori

An optical device includes a light receiving unit that receives reflected light reflected from an object by emitted light emitted from a light emitting unit, an optical element that guides incident light including the reflected light and ambient light from a region including the object to a position on the light receiving unit according to a component included in the incident light, and a detection device that detects the reflected light based on a distribution of received light intensity on the light receiving unit. A light receiving element of the light receiving unit is arranged in a second direction intersecting a first direction in which the incident light is dispersed by the optical element.

Optical device

Provided is an optical device capable of suppressing variations in the range for scanning light. This optical device comprises: a light source that emits a laser beam; a MEMS mirror that scans the laser beam toward a predetermined range; and a diffraction grating that guides the laser beam to the MEMS mirror by guiding the laser beam in a direction corresponding to the wavelength thereof. The optical device also comprises an MEMS control unit that performs control such that, by employing a change in the optical path of the laser beam caused through the diffraction grating by a change in the wavelength of the laser beam, variations in the scanning range of the laser beam by the MEMS mirror are suppressed.

An optical device comprises: a line sensor having a plurality of light reception elements that receive incident light including reflection light resulting from laser light having been emitted from a light source and reflected by an object, and including ambient light; a diffraction grating that guides the incident light to the plurality of light reception elements by diffracting the incident light to a direction depending on the wavelength; and a control unit that detects the reflection light on the basis of the light reception amounts of the light reception elements. The diffraction grating is configured to guide, to one of the plurality of light reception elements, a wavelength within a predetermined range that includes the wavelength of the laser light emitted from the light source.

The virtual image generation device which visualizes images formed by an image forming unit as virtual images includes: a first optical element and a second optical element arranged opposite to each other along a travelling direction of an image light corresponding to the images. The first optical element and the second optical element have a characteristic of reflecting the light having a wavelength corresponding to the image light in accordance with an incident angle of the light and transmitting the light having the wavelength other than the wavelength corresponding to the image light, and give a predetermined optical effect only to the image light.

Virtual image generation device and head-up display

A multilayer optical recording medium in which, as a recording layer is located farther from a surface of incidence of a light beam for reading, the amount of light that reaches the surface of incidence after being reflected off the recording layer is smaller.

Optical recording medium

A pickup device comprising an irradiation optical system including an objective lens to focus a ray bundle on a track of a recording surface of an optical recording medium to form a light spot, and a detection optical system including a photo detector to receive return light reflected from the light spot via the objective lens and perform photoelectric conversion and controls said objective lens in position according to electrical signals produced through operations on outputs of said photo detector.

Pickup device

A pickup device includes an irradiation optical system including an object lens for focusing light flux on a track of a recording surface of an optical recording media having a plurality of recording layers stacked while a spacer layer is interposed between the recording layers to form a spot and a detection optical system including an photo detector having a plurality of light receiving parts for receiving returning light reflected from the spot through the object lens to perform photoelectric conversion. The pickup device controls a position of the object leans according to an electrical signal calculated from outputs of the light receiving parts. The pickup device further includes an astigmatic device for providing astigmatism to the returning light directed to the light receiving parts and a division device, having divisional regions divided by a division line extending in an astigmatic direction about an optical axis of the returning light, for dividing the returning light having the astigmatism into a plurality of partial light fluxes divided for the respective divisional regions along the optical axis of returning light. The neighboring divisional regions provide the partial light fluxes with an optical action so that interference between the corresponding partial light fluxes does not occur on the light receiving parts.

An optical pickup apparatus reads an information signal recorded on a recording surface of an optical disk along a track by projecting a light beam. Said optical pickup apparatus has: an objective lens for converging said light beam onto said recording surface; an objective lens moving device for moving said objective lens in a radial direction of said optical disk; and a divisional photosensing device for receiving return light reflected by said optical disk, in a plurality of divided regions. Said divisional photosensing device has: a first divisional photosensing device for dividing a first region including both edge portions in said radial direction of said return light, in two divided areas in said radial direction; a second divisional photosensing device for receiving a second region including both edge portions in a direction which perpendicularly crosses said radial direction of said return light, in two divided areas in said radial direction; and a third divisional photosensing device for receiving a third region including an almost center portion of said return light, in two divided areas in said radial direction.

Optical pickup apparatus

An image display system according to the present invention includes a camera that shoots a background, a monitor that displays a shot background image, and an optical lens arranged on a display surface of the monitor. An imaginary image, obtained due to presence of the optical lens, of the monitor image is made to substantially match with a background surface, so that observers viewing the background through the monitor can recognize that the monitor image and the background look continuous. As a result, the image display system and the image display method that can cause the observers viewing the background through the monitor to recognize that the monitor image and the background look continuous are provided.

Seamless image viewing system and method

In an information display apparatus such as a head-up display, while safety is being secured, visibility from a user is improved. Image data having an object such as an arrow showing an advancing direction or a road sign drawn on it are generated as information to be given to the user by a display information generating sectionand is output to a projector. When a light beam Rcorresponding to the image data is emitted from the projectorto a combiner, reflected light of the light beam Rand transmitted light of external light Rare combined in the combiner, so as to be viewed by the user. At this time, the display information generating sectionoutputs coordinate values showing a display position of the object to a transmittance control sectionand the transmittance control sectionspecifies a display region of the object based on the coordinate values, and reduces the transmittance in the specified region of the light control panelso as to reduce a transmitting amount of the external light R

Information display apparatus and navigation apparatus

There are obtainable reliable and proper tracking correction and CTC even when fluctuations occur in an irradiation position of a sub-beam in a track at the time of performing tracking correction and CTC using three beams. Five beams (a main beam, sub-beams inA and inB, and sub-beams outA and outB) are generated. Reflection beams of the five beams are received, and a differential push pull signal DPPin corresponding to the sub-beams 'in' as &#xb1; first-order beams and a differential push pull signal DPPout corresponding to the sub-beams 'out' as &#xb1; second-order beams are generated. By assigning weights to the differential push pull signals DPPin and DPPout and computing the sum of the weighted signals, a tracking error signal Ste having an amplitude value which can perform tracking correction is generated.

Optical pickup device and information recording/reproducing apparatus

The present invention makes it possible to accurately and adequately adjust the position where sub beams are shone when performing tracking correction or CTC using three beams. The invention adjusts the positions where the sub beams are shone onto the surface of an optical disc DK by changing the angle of a diffraction gratingthat is mounted inside an optical pickup. When performing adjustment, the angle of the diffraction gratingis performed in three stages: (i) rough adjustment, (ii) initial fine adjustment and (iii) continuous fine adjustment.

Optical pickup device and information recording/reproduction device

The present invention provides an optical pickup device requiring no position adjustment of a diffraction grating at the time of assembling the optical pickup device, and capable of suppressing fluctuations in a differential push-pull signal amplitude and cancelling a push-pull offset. An optical pickup deviceof an embodiment of the present invention has a diffraction gratingof a special shape including predetermined grooves and two kinds of lattice grooves arranged at a pitch determined on the basis of a pitch of grooves formed in the surface of an optical disk, numerical aperture, wavelength of a light beam, and effective diameter of the light beam applied on the optical disk To suppress push-pull signals generated in the &#xb1; first-order diffraction rays, reflection rays from the optical diskof a zeroth-order diffraction ray and &#xb1; first-order diffraction rays are detected, and signals corresponding to light reception results are output to a reproduction unit, a control unit, and an actuator servo circuit

Optical pickup device

An optical pickup device includes an irradiating optical system for converging a light beam to form a spot on a recording surface via a light-transmitting layer of an optical recording medium, and a photodetection optical system for converging return light reflected and returned from the spot on a photodetector. The device detects wave aberration and focal error of the light beam. A diffractive optical element is disposed on the optical axis of return light in the photodetection optical system and provided with an annulus. The diffractive optical element annularly extracts, from return light, ray components in the vicinity of a predetermined radius on a pupil on the emitting pupil surface of the irradiating optical system, which is affected by the wave aberration generated in the optical system. The photodetector contains first light receiving components for receiving the ray components transmitted and extracted by the annulus, and second light receiving components for receiving at least some of the ray components other than the ray components transmitted by the annulus. The device further includes a focal error detecting circuit connected to the first light receiving components and which detects the focal error of the light beam on the basis of a subsequent photoelectrically converted output. The device may include a wave aberration error detecting circuit connected to the second light receiving components and which detects the wave aberration of the light beam on the basis of a subsequent photoelectrically converted output.

Optical pickup device and focal error detecting device therefor and wave aberration and focal error detecting device therefor

A tilt angle detection device and method which generates, as a first push-pull signal, a difference between light reception signals corresponding to two light receiving surfaces of one side of a photodetector, which are divided along the track tangent direction; generates, as a second push-pull signal, a difference between the light reception signals corresponding to two light receiving surfaces of the other side of the photodetector; and generates a tilt signal that indicates a tilt angle defined by a normal on the recording surface of the optical recording medium at a position of irradiation of the laser beam and the optical axis of the laser beam in accordance to a difference between amplitudes of the first and second push-pull signals.

Growing community of inventors

Tsurugashima, Japan

Takuma Yanagisawa