Binocular Power Corrector for Wide Field of View
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional binoculars face a trade-off between field of view and magnification, resulting in a smaller field of view and increased weight, which limits their effectiveness in visual observation applications, and they often compromise on exit pupil diameter and eye relief.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a power corrector, an additional intermediate group of lenses between the objective and eyepiece, allows for a wider field of view while maintaining a compact and lightweight design, by optimizing the location and size of the entrance and exit pupils and correcting optical aberrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the field of view is enlarged in a Keplerian telescope system, then the system becomes more massive and heavy, but the patent aims to achieve wide field of view without increasing weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the optical system into distinct functional groups: objective lens, intermediate image plane, and eyepiece with field lens. By segmenting the system and adding a dedicated field lens component, the wide field of view is achieved without requiring a complete redesign of the entire optical path, thus avoiding proportional weight increase across all components.
Solution Approach 2:
The field lens acts as an intermediary element between the intermediate image plane and the eyepiece. This intermediate component corrects field curvature and enables wide field of view by redirecting marginal rays, allowing the system to achieve expanded viewing area without the exponential weight penalty that would result from enlarging the objective lens or eyepiece themselves.
2Power
If magnification is increased, then the field of view decreases, but the patent achieves both high magnification and wide field of view
Solution Approach 1:
The field lens serves as a mediating element that decouples the relationship between magnification and field of view. By introducing this intermediate optical element, the system can maintain high magnification through the objective-eyepiece ratio while the field lens independently corrects field curvature to preserve a wide field of view, breaking the traditional inverse relationship between these two parameters.
3Reliability
If the exit pupil is maintained at suitable size, then the system complexity increases, but the patent achieves compact design with proper exit pupil definition
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the field lens with the eyepiece assembly, merging two functions (field correction and magnification) into a single integrated component group. This consolidation achieves proper exit pupil definition and field curvature correction without adding a completely separate complex subsystem, thereby maintaining relatively simple system architecture while ensuring reliable optical performance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables binoculars with a very large field of view, maintaining a suitable exit pupil diameter and eye relief, and achieving a more compact and cost-effective design, suitable for wearable visual observation devices.
Implementation Method 1
a power corrector having a third focal length and including a third group of one or more third lenses located on the optical axis between the objective and the eyepiece
Data Source
Figure 1~8
Figure 9~13
Figure 14~16
AI summary
An optical device includes an objective, an eyepiece and a power corrector, each of which includes one or more lenses, and each of which has a respective focal length. The input focal length of the device is defined jointly by the focal lengths of the objective and the power corrector. The magnification of the device is the ratio of the input focal length to the eyepiece focal length. The combined aberration of the eyepiece and the power corrector is less than the characteristic aberration of the eyepiece. The objective, the eyepiece and the power corrector together define an apparent field of view of at least 75 degrees and an exit pupil. The eyepiece lens diameter(s) is/are no greater than twelve times the pupil diameter and three times the eyepiece focal length.