One-dimensional field-of-view deflection liquid lens

Abstract

The invention discloses a one-dimensional view field deflection liquid lens which comprises window glass, a lens cavity, a supporting shaft, an inner ring, electrodes, filling liquid I and filling liquid II. The lens cavity and the inner ring share the same optical axis. Wherein window glass is arranged above and below the lens cavity, two groups of electrodes which are symmetrical up and down are arranged on the inner wall of the cavity, and a pair of supporting shafts is arranged on the transverse symmetry axis of the inner wall of the cavity. The inner ring is provided with two coaxial circular openings, two nesting holes and two square openings. The two coaxial circular openings are located on the upper and lower surfaces of the inner ring, the two nesting holes are located on the side wall of the inner ring, and the two square openings are located on the side wall of the inner ring. According to the invention, the cavity is filled with two liquids which are mutually insoluble and have matched density, and the filling liquid I in the driving inner ring is pulled up and down through voltage on-off of the electrode and the supporting shaft, so that zooming and view field deflection of the lens are realized. The liquid lens has the advantages of being simple in structure, high in response speed, low in cost, large in view field deflection range and zoom range and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a liquid lens, and more particularly to a one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens. Background Art

[0002] Traditional optical equipment is usually composed of solid lenses. In order to achieve some advanced imaging capabilities, such as focal length change, field of view deflection, etc., it is usually necessary to mechanically move multiple solid lenses and cooperate with other components to achieve this, thereby increasing the volume and weight of the optical system. As optical systems develop towards miniaturization, integration and multifunctionality, the emergence of liquid lenses has become a new development trend of optical devices. Liquid lenses use liquid as an optical medium, and the shape of its surface can be adjusted by external drive to change the focal length. Generally, a single liquid lens can realize the functions of multiple solid lenses and moving parts, greatly reducing the volume of the optical system, making it lightweight and miniaturized, while achieving rapid response.

[0003] With the development of imaging technology and laser technology, the demand for field of view deflection has increased significantly in application scenarios such as surveillance imaging, laser marking, and lateral scanning. In order to obtain field of view deflection, electrowetting liquid prisms are mostly used. The advantage is fast response speed, but the disadvantage is that zoom cannot be achieved. Recently, by combining liquid lenses with liquid prisms, the lenses have both deflection and zoom functions. However, this increases the volume of the optical system, and the driving mode changes from single drive to multi-drive, which increases the difficulty of operation and is not conducive to integration and miniaturization. Therefore, in-depth research on single-drive liquid lenses that have both deflection and zoom functions is conducive to the development of optical systems towards miniaturization, integration, and multi-functionality. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention proposes a one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens. Figure 1 , 2As shown, the lens structure includes window glass, lens cavity, support shaft, inner ring, electrode, filling liquid I and filling liquid II. The lens cavity and the inner ring are coaxial. Among them, the upper and lower parts of the lens cavity are window glasses, and the inner wall of the lens cavity is arranged with two groups of upper and lower symmetrical electrodes. There is a pair of support shafts on the transverse symmetry axis of the inner wall of the cavity for nesting of the inner ring. The inner ring is provided with two coaxial circular openings, two nesting holes and two square openings. The two coaxial circular openings are coaxial with the optical axis and are located on the upper and lower sides of the inner ring to form two liquid-liquid surfaces, which are interfaces for light deflection and zooming of the lens. The two nesting holes are located on the side wall of the inner ring, which are used to nest on the support shaft connected to the lens cavity to realize the rotatability of the inner ring. The two square openings are located on the side wall of the inner ring so that the filling liquid I forms a convex surface outward and contacts with the electrodes on the inner wall of the lens cavity. The present invention fills two immiscible liquids with matching densities in the cavity, wherein filling liquid I is located in the inner ring, and filling liquid II serves as the environmental liquid in the cavity, wherein filling liquid I is a transparent conductive polar liquid or a transparent non-conductive non-polar liquid, and filling liquid II is a transparent non-conductive oily liquid.

[0005] In the initial state, no voltage is applied and the lens is not deflected. At this time, the lens is in a concave lens state. Figure 3 As shown. The filling liquid I in the inner ring forms convex liquid surfaces at two coaxial circular openings and two square openings. The convex liquid surface at the coaxial circular opening realizes the divergence of light, and the convex liquid surface at the square opening contacts the electrode on the inner wall of the lens cavity, preparing for the subsequent application of voltage to generate the electrowetting effect or dielectric force effect.

[0006] When a small voltage is applied to the supporting shaft and the upper and lower electrodes on the inner wall of the lens cavity, the lens begins to deflect, and the filling liquid I that contacts the electrodes on the inner wall of the lens cavity will undergo electrowetting effect or dielectric force effect upward and downward along the electrodes, thereby pulling the inner ring to rotate. At this time, the lens deflection angle is small. At the same time, since the total volume of the conductive liquid remains unchanged, the filling liquid I in the inner ring is partially pulled out, causing the volume of the filling liquid I in the inner ring to decrease, thereby causing a change in the liquid-liquid surface shape at the upper and lower coaxial openings of the inner ring, and the lens changes from an initial concave lens state with a shorter focal length to a concave lens state with a longer focal length, as shown in the attached figure. Figure 4 , 6 shown.

[0007] Increasing the applied voltage, the electrowetting effect or dielectric force effect of the inner wall of the lens cavity is enhanced, the rotation angle of the inner ring is increased, and the lens deflection angle is increased. At the same time, due to the enhanced electrowetting effect or dielectric force effect, the volume of the liquid I filled in the inner ring is further reduced, the liquid-liquid surface shape change at the upper and lower coaxial openings of the inner ring is increased, and the lens gradually changes from a concave lens state to a convex lens state, as shown in the attached figure. Figure 5 , 7 shown.

[0008] Preferably, the inner ring is nested on the lens cavity support shaft and has the same optical axis as the lens cavity. The shape of the lens cavity includes but is not limited to spherical, truncated spherical, drum, cylindrical, truncated cone, triangular prism, quadrangular prism, etc.

[0009] Preferably, the electrode material includes but is not limited to a flexible graphite electrode, a flexible metal electrode, an ITO electrode, a metal rod electrode, a metal wire electrode, a metal sheet electrode, and the like.

[0010] Preferably, the filling liquid I and the filling liquid II are immiscible and have matching densities. The filling liquid II is transparent silicone oil, and the filling liquid I includes but is not limited to transparent conductive polar liquids such as NaCl solution and KCl solution, or transparent non-conductive non-polar liquids such as silicone oil.

[0011] Preferably, the inner ring deflection angle θ of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens is ≤ 60°.

[0012] Preferably, the aperture D of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens is ≥ 2 mm and D ≤ 30 mm.

[0013] Preferably, the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens is driven by electrowetting drive or dielectric force drive. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Attached Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the front-view cross-sectional structure of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens.

[0015] Attached Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the left-view cross-sectional structure of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens.

[0016] Attached Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the initial state when the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens does not deflect the concave lens.

[0017] Attached Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the deflection and focusing state of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens when the concave lens is deflected left at a small angle.

[0018] Attached Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the deflection and focusing state of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens when the convex lens is deflected to the left at a large angle.

[0019] Attached Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the deflection and focusing state of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens when the concave lens is deflected right at a small angle.

[0020] Attached Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the deflection and focusing state of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens when the convex lens is deflected right at a large angle.

[0021] The diagram numbers in the above drawings are: 1 window glass, 2 lens cavity, 3 electrode, 4 support shaft, 5 inner ring, 6 filling liquid I, 7 filling liquid II. It should be understood that the above drawings are only schematic and not drawn to scale. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] In order to make the structure, function and technical solution of the present invention more clearly understood, a liquid lens with adjustable surface shape and aperture is further described in detail in conjunction with the embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art may make some non-essential improvements and adjustments to the present invention based on the above invention content, which still fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] One embodiment of the present invention is: Figure 1 As shown, the structure includes: 1 window glass, 2 lens cavity, 3 electrodes, 4 support shaft, 5 inner ring, 6 filling liquid I, 7 filling liquid II. The lens length is 18 mm, the diameter is 23 mm, and the effective aperture is 10 mm. The lens cavity and the inner ring are coaxial. Among them, the upper and lower circular window glasses of the lens cavity are 14 mm in diameter and 0.5 mm in thickness, the inner wall of the lens cavity is a spherical surface with a diameter of 17 mm without the top, the support shaft of the lens cavity is located on the transverse symmetry axis of the cavity, the length is 3 mm, the diameter is 2.5 mm, and the inner wall of the lens cavity is arranged with two groups of electrodes symmetrically arranged on the upper and lower walls with a length of 9 mm, a width of 6 mm, and a thickness of 0.5 mm. The inner ring nested on the support shaft of the lens cavity consists of two coaxial circular openings, two nested holes, and two square openings. The inner ring has a diameter of 13 mm, a width of 5 mm, and a wall thickness of 0.5 mm. The two coaxial circular openings have a diameter of 10 mm, the two nested holes have a diameter of 2.8 mm, and the two square openings are 8 mm long and 3.6 mm wide. The lens cavity is filled with two immiscible liquids with matching densities. Filling liquid I is a colorless and transparent NaCl solution with a refractive index of 1.36 and an Abbe number of 46, located in the inner ring. Filling liquid II is a colorless and transparent silicone oil with a refractive index of 1.57 and an Abbe number of 37.8, serving as the environmental liquid in the cavity.

[0024] The working band used in this embodiment is 400 nm to 750 nm. Taking the field of view undeflected mode as an example, the lens is in a concave lens state, and no voltage is applied at this time, which is the initial state. Figure 3 The volume ratio of the two liquid materials determines that the curvature radii of the two liquid-liquid surfaces in the initial state are approximately 5 mm and -5 mm, respectively, and the focal length of the lens is approximately -9.79 mm.

[0025] The working band adopted in this embodiment is 400 nm~750 nm. Taking the field of view deflection mode as an example, when the support shaft is grounded and the opposing electrodes on the upper left and lower right (lower left and upper right) of the inner wall of the lens cavity are connected to a 100 Vp-p DC (200Hz) sinusoidal signal, the filling liquid I that contacts the electrodes on the inner wall of the lens cavity will undergo electrowetting or dielectric force effect along the electrodes to the upper left and lower right (lower left and upper right), pulling the inner ring to the right (left) and rotating 10°, causing the lens field of view to deflect 5° to the left (right), resulting in a small angle deflection. At the same time, due to the electrowetting or dielectric force effect, the filling liquid I in the inner ring is partially pulled out, resulting in a reduction in the volume of the filling liquid I in the inner ring, causing the two liquid-liquid surface type along the optical axis direction to change, and the lens changes from an initial concave lens state with a shorter focal length to a concave lens state with a longer focal length, as shown in the attached figure. Figure 4 , 6 As shown, at this time, the curvature radius of the two liquid-liquid surfaces is approximately -7.25 mm and 7.25 mm, respectively, and the focal length of the lens is approximately -15.31 mm. Depending on the magnitude of the applied voltage, the strength of the electrowetting effect or dielectric force effect is different, and the zoom size and deflection angle of the lens will also be different accordingly. When the applied voltage is increased, the support shaft is grounded, and the opposing electrodes on the upper left and lower right (lower left and upper right) of the inner wall of the lens cavity are connected to a 600 Vp-p DC (200Hz) sinusoidal signal, the electrowetting effect or dielectric force effect of the inner wall of the lens cavity is enhanced, the inner ring rotates 50° to the right (left), and the lens field of view deflects 40° to the left (right), resulting in a large-angle deflection. At the same time, due to the enhancement of the electrowetting or dielectric force effect, the volume of the liquid I filled in the inner ring is further reduced, and the lens changes from a concave lens state to a convex lens state, as shown in the attached figure. Figure 5 , 7 As shown in FIG. 1 , the curvature radii of the two liquid-liquid surfaces are approximately -7.84 mm and 7.84 mm, respectively, and the focal length of the lens is approximately 19.34 mm. When the voltage is stopped, the lens returns to its initial state.

Claims

1. A one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens, characterized in that: The structure includes: Window glass, lens cavity, support shaft, inner ring, electrode, filling liquid I and filling liquid II, filling liquid I is located in the inner ring, filling liquid II serves as the environmental liquid in the lens cavity, and by applying voltages of different magnitudes to the upper and lower electrodes of the support shaft and the inner wall of the lens cavity, an electrowetting effect or a dielectric force effect is generated, thereby realizing the control of the zoom size and the field of view deflection angle of the lens.

2. The one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner ring is nested on the support shaft of the lens cavity and has the same optical axis as the lens cavity. The shape of the lens cavity includes but is not limited to spherical, truncated spherical, drum, cylindrical, truncated cone, triangular prism, quadrangular prism, etc.

3. The one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens according to claim 1, characterized in that: The filling liquid I and the filling liquid II are mutually immiscible and have matching densities. The filling liquid II is transparent silicone oil. The filling liquid I includes but is not limited to transparent conductive polar liquids such as NaCl solution and KCl solution, or transparent non-conductive non-polar liquids such as silicone oil.

4. The one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens according to claim 1, characterized in that: Electrode materials include but are not limited to flexible graphite electrodes, flexible metal electrodes, ITO electrodes, metal rod electrodes, metal wire electrodes, metal sheet electrodes, and the like.

5. The one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens according to claim 1, characterized in that: The diameter of the lens is D ≥ 2 mm and D ≤ 30 mm.

6. The one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner ring deflection angle θ of the one-dimensional field of view deflection liquid lens is ≤ 60°.

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