Concave Bandpass Filter for Ambient-Light-Resistant Ranging

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Solution Overview

Problem

In portable electronic equipment, light receiving modules require a bandpass filter with a wider bandwidth to accommodate varying chief ray angles, leading to increased disturbance from ambient light.

Innovation Solution

A distance measuring system with a light receiving module that incorporates a bandpass filter with a concave-shaped light incident surface, allowing for a narrower bandwidth while reducing disturbance from ambient light.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a bandpass filter with a wider bandwidth is used to accommodate varying chief ray angles in portable electronic equipment, then the filter can receive target light at the center and periphery of the light receiving unit, but the influence of disturbance light increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveability to receive target light at center and peripheryVSAvoidinfluence of disturbance light
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The bandpass filter is designed with a concave-shaped light incident surface instead of a flat surface. This curvature allows the filter to accommodate varying chief ray angles from the center to the periphery of the light receiving unit while maintaining a narrow bandwidth, thereby reducing the influence of disturbance light while still receiving target light effectively across the entire imaging element.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If a narrow bandwidth is set for the bandpass filter to reduce disturbance light influence, then the filter can reject ambient light effectively, but it becomes difficult to receive target light at the periphery with varying incident angles

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinfluence of disturbance lightVSAvoidability to receive target light at periphery
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The concave-shaped light incident surface of the bandpass filter is specifically designed to match the angular distribution of incoming light from the optical system. This curvature enables the filter to maintain a narrow bandwidth for effective disturbance light rejection while still accepting target light across the full angular range from the center to the periphery of the light receiving unit.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

3Adaptability or versatility

If the bandwidth of the bandpass filter is widened to accommodate pupil correction, then the filter can work with chief ray angle differences, but measurement precision deteriorates due to increased disturbance light

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompatibility with pupil correctionVSAvoiddistance measurement accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The concave-shaped light incident surface enables the bandpass filter to maintain a narrow bandwidth while being compatible with pupil correction optical systems that have varying chief ray angles. This preserves measurement precision by effectively blocking disturbance light while still allowing target light to pass through across the entire field of view.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

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

The solution enables high-quality ranging imaging even under external light conditions by maintaining measurement accuracy and reducing noise from disturbance light.

Implementation Method 1

an optical member including a bandpass filter that is selectively transparent to infrared light in a predetermined wavelength range

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectBandpass filtering: Filter (optical)

Implementation Method 2

the bandpass filter has a concave-shaped light incident surface... an incident angle of oblique light can be reduced

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectGeometric optics: Reflection

Data Source

PatentEP3757603B1Ranging system, light receiving module, and method for manufacturing band-pass filter
Publication Date: 2025.02.19 SONY SEMICON SOLUTIONS CORP
  • EP3757603B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3757603B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3757603B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B

AI summary

A distance measuring system includes a light source unit that emits infrared light toward a target object, a light receiving unit that receives the infrared light from the target object, and an arithmetic processing unit that obtains information regarding a distance to the target object on the basis of data from the light receiving unit, in which an optical member including a bandpass filter that is selectively transparent to infrared light in a predetermined wavelength range is arranged on a light receiving surface side of the light receiving unit, and the bandpass filter has a concave-shaped light incident surface.