Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology

Hoden Seimitsu Kako Kenkyusho Co., Ltd.

Toshiyuki Inokuchi

Nobuyuki Baba

Shigeru Ohuchida

Kazuhiro Fujita

Hideo Maeda

Yoshiaki Kanmoto

Koji Yamamoto

Ikuo Maeda

Motoichi Ohtsu

Takashi Shibaguchi

Hideo Segawa

Fuyuhiko Matsumoto

Takashi Yokota

Junichi Kitabayashi

Motonobu Kourogi

Masato Takada

Shuji Mononobe

Motoaki Kawazu

Takashi Yatsui

Takaaki Miyashita

Masayoshi Kato

Fumio Asano

The broad range measurement exploiting the usual propagated light and the high resolution measurement mode exploiting near-field light are to be accomplished with a sole as-assembled optical probe. To this end, light radiated through an optical probehaving a light shielding coating layerformed for defining a light radiating aperture D or light radiated at a coreof the optical probeis propagated, as the optical probeis moved in a direction towards and away from a surface for measurement. The core of the optical probe is coated with a light shielding coating layerIn this manner, a spot of propagated light propagated through the coreor a spot of near-field light seeping from the light radiating aperture D is formed on the surface for measurement, and light derived from the spot of light is detected.

Photo-detection device and method

An optical scanner unit for scanning a document includes a laser unit for emitting a laser beam used for scanning the document, an optical system in which the laser beam emitted from the laser unit travels to the document and a reflection light beam obtained by reflection of the laser beam on the document can turn back through the optical system, the optical system having a scanning device for moving the laser beam which passes through the optical system so that a two dimensional scanning of the document is carried out by the light beam, and an optical sensor for detecting the reflection light beam turning back through the optical system, wherein an image formed on the document is read based on results obtained by the optical sensor.

Optical scanner unit having recursive optical system

An optical pick-up device for use in an optical disc information recording/reproducing apparatus is provided. In the present optical pick-up device, the functions of two or more separate optical elements provided in the prior art structure are combined or integrated in a single element to reduce the total number of separate optical elements provided in the device. In particular, use is made of a diffraction grating rather than lenses and/or lenses are formed as holo lenses. A diffraction grating and a holo lens may be formed substantially in the shape of flat plates, so that many optical components can be put together to define an integrated subassembly, which reduces the total number of discrete elements, facilitates manufacturing and eliminates the necessity of adjustments among optical elements once set.

Integrated optical pick-up device

An optical deflection element receives incident beam and deflects the incident beam with an arbitrary deflection angle. The optical deflection element includes a plurality of unit members which are successively stacked and each including an electrooptic layer, an electrode layer formed on a surface of each electrooptic layer, and an insulator layer formed on the surface of each electrooptic layer adjacent to the electrode layer, where a boundary between the electrode layer and the insulator layer is inclined to an optical axis of the incident beam.

Optical deflection element and space optical matrix switching device

An information reading device which comprises a semiconductor laser source which emits a semiconductor laser beam and a first condenser lens for converging the laser beam to form an irradiation beam. A beam shaping optical system is disposed on the optical path of the laser beam to form a predetermined beam section shape of the irradiation beam which is converged by the first condenser lens. A hologram disk is used for deflecting the irradiation beam. The information reading device further comprises an optical path separation system. The optical path of the irradiation beam is separated from that of the reflection beam reflected from the scanning surface irradiated by the irradiation beam. A second condenser lens is arranged from converging the reflection beam separated from the irradiation beam by the optical path separation means. And an optical sensor is arranged for detecting the reflection beam converged by the second condenser lens.

Information reading device

An optical pick-up device for use in an optical disc information recording/reproducing apparatus is provided. In the present optical pick-up device, the functions of two or more separate optical elements provided in the prior art structure are combined or integrated in a single element to reduce the total number of separate optical elements provided in the device. In particular, use is made of a diffraction grating rather than lenses and/or lenses are formed as holo lenses. A diffraction grating and a holo lens may be formed substantially in the shape of flat plates, to define an optical components can be put together to define an integrated subassembly, which reduces the total number of discrete elements, facilitates manufacturing and eliminates the necessity of adjustments among optical elements once set.

An optical imaging apparatus according to the present invention comprises a flat multilens array having a number of lenses arranged in a row and a flat multiprism array having a number of prisms also arranged in a row and located behind the multilens array such that its individual prisms are aligned with the individual lenses. Two prism surfaces (flat reflecting surfaces) are positioned at one side and a single lens surface (curved surface) at the other and multiple combinations of such surfaces are lined up in an array. Each lens or each prism has on its front end a light intercepting screen plate having a substantially oblong opening which is shorter in the direction of the array and longer in a direction perpendicular thereto, or the aperture of each prism and/or each lens itself is shaped so. For the correction of abberations, one or more additional lenses of different curvatures are stacked on the front end of each lens to constitute a composite lens system. The multiprism array is replacable by a multiroof prism array.

Optical imaging apparatus

An optical information reading and writing device comprising a laser source which emits a laser beam for irradiating an optical recording disk to record an information therein and an optical signal detection system which receives a reflection beam reflected from the disk surface and controls position of the disk. The optical signal detection system comprises a condenser lens for converging the reflection beam and a dual grating element which has linear diffraction gratings formed on its both side surfaces. The incident side grating divides the reflection beam to two beams, one being a beam which is diffracted by the grating and the other being a beam which passes substantially straight through the grating without being diffracted thereby. The optical signal detection system further comprises a pair of three-segment light receiving detector elements for detecting the divided two beams. The two detector elements are disposed on a same plane.

Optical information reading and writing device with diffraction means

An optical head device for recording and reproducing information includes beam splitting and converging mechanisms which has a first portion and a second portion secured to the first portion and is disposed on an optical path of light reflected from a photo-magnetic disk. The first portion is adapted to split the reflected light received by the beam splitting and converging means into two beams which propagate in at least two directions different from each other and adapted to proportion the amount of reflected light in each of the two beams by means of the magnitude of the p-polarized component contained in the reflected light. The second portion is adapted to converge separately the two split beams. The converged two beams are used for reproducing binary data in the photo-magnetic disk.

Optical head device for recording and reproducing information

A casing in the form of a slender hollow structure has a slit-shaped entrance aperture defined in an upper cover thereof and a slit-shaped exit aperture defined in a lower cover thereof. The casing houses a covex roof-shaped mirror having a convex reflecting surface, a lens array, a concave roof-shaped mirror array having an array of convex reflecting surfaces, and a spacer interposed between the concave roof-shaped mirror array and the lens array to keep them spaced apart. The upper and lower covers of the casing are integrally formed with or securely coupled to the spacer. A light shield plate lies between the corner of the convex roof-shaped mirror and the lens array, and a reflecting plate is mounted on the upper cover of the casing for reflecting light from a light source to an object to be imaged. A sensor for detecting the amount of light emitted from the light source is also mounted on the casing.

Optical imaging device

A device for writing optical information including a roof mirror array, a lens array, an optical-path separator, a mirror member, a housing, and a self-scanned recording element. The roof mirror array, the lens array, the optical-path separator, and the mirror member are retained by the housing in a prescribed mutual positional relationship. The housing has a pair of slits, one of which is covered with the light-signal producing surface of the self-scanned recording element. The housing is shaped such that the light-signal producing surface of the self-scanned recording element is held in registration with an object surface on which an unmagnified object image would be formed by the lens array and the roof mirror array.

Self scanned recording element

A document readout device reads out a document by forming an image of a linear area of the document on an unmagnification sensor through an image-forming optical system. The document readout device has a roof mirror array, a lens array, an optical-path separator, one or two mirror members, a housing, an unmagnification sensor, and one or two line illuminating devices. The housing has a pair of slits, one of which is covered by the unmagnification sensor, with the other slit being positioned for introducing light into the housing. The roof mirror array, the lens array, the optical-path separator, and the mirror member or members are retained in the housing in certain mutual positional relationship. The unmagnification sensor and the line illuminating unit or units are integrally mounted on the housing. The roof mirror array, the lens array, and the optical-path separator jointly constitute the image-forming optical system. An image-forming light ray from the image-forming optical system is guided by the mirror member or members toward the unmagnification sensor.

Optical read out apparatus using a roof mirror lens array

This invention relates to an image forming optical apparatus in which a number of micro-lenses are arranged, and images formed by said lenses are superposed to obtain a synthesized image. In the optical apparatus of this kind, individual images have their respective irradiance distribution, and therefore, unevenness in the irradiance distribution of the synthesized image has to be minimized. Where this optical system is used for a copier or the like, exposure is carried out through a slit. The width and position of the slit greatly influence the irradiance for exposure and on unevenness in irradiance. According to the invention, optimum width and position of the slit can be selected to minimize the unevenness in irradiance and provide sufficient exposure.

Image forming optical apparatus

An anamorphic focusing system includes a focusing device including a roof-mirror-lens array for focusing an image of an object, and a cylindrical lens disposed in an optical path extending from the focusing device toward the image for magnifying the image in a direction perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the roof-mirror-lens array.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Toshiyuki Inokuchi