Five-Lens Optical System Confocal Visible Infrared Light
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional optical systems for portable electronic devices struggle to provide high optical performance, especially in low-light environments, and require IR cut filters which occupy space and increase costs, hindering the development of miniaturized surveillance cameras.
Innovation Solution
A compact optical image capturing system using a combination of refractive powers and convex/concave surfaces of five-piece lenses, optimizing the focal lengths for visible and infrared light to achieve a near-confocal effect without IR cut filters, thereby enhancing light intake and image quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional optical systems use three or four lenses, then the device complexity is reduced, but the optical performance and light intake are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple optical functions into a five-lens system where each lens contributes to both visible and infrared light management. The lenses work together to achieve confocal imaging for both spectral ranges, merging what would traditionally require separate optical paths and filters into a unified system that delivers superior optical performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical system is designed to simultaneously handle visible light (400-700nm) and infrared light (700-1300nm) through the same five-lens configuration. The lenses are optimized with specific refractive indices and dispersion properties that enable them to focus both spectral ranges onto the same image plane, eliminating the need for wavelength-specific components.
2Manufacturing precision
If IR cut filters are used to filter infrared light, then image fidelity is improved, but device size and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the infrared light management function from the traditional filter-based approach and integrates it directly into the lens optical design. By carefully selecting lens materials with appropriate dispersion characteristics and optimizing the lens curvatures, the system naturally focuses infrared light onto the same image plane as visible light, eliminating the need for separate IR cut filter components.
Solution Approach 2:
The five-lens system acts as an intermediary between the incoming mixed spectrum light and the image sensor. The lenses are designed with specific refractive indices and Abbe numbers that mediate the different wavelengths, bending both visible and infrared light to converge at the same focal plane, thereby replacing the need for spectral separation filters.
3Illumination intensity
If the optical system is designed for high aperture to capture light in dark environments, then light intake is improved, but optical performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality optimization by giving each of the five lenses specific refractive index ranges and Abbe number characteristics tailored to its position and function in the optical train. This allows the system to maintain high aperture for light intake while each lens locally corrects specific aberrations, preserving overall optical performance despite the large aperture.
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 system improves light intake and image quality, reduces size, and eliminates the need for IR cut filters, enabling more efficient and cost-effective miniaturization of surveillance cameras.
Implementation Method 1
The optical image capturing system includes a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, and a fifth lens from an object side to an image side along an optical axis. Each lens has specific refractive power and dispersion properties that enable both visible and infrared light to converge at the same focal plane.
Implementation Method 2
the selection of materials thereof, to reduce the difference between the imaging focal length of visible light and imaging focal length of infrared light, in order to achieve the near 'confocal' effect
Data Source
AI summary
The invention discloses a five-piece optical lens for capturing image and a five-piece optical module for capturing image. In order from an object side to an image side, the optical lens along the optical axis comprises a first lens with refractive power; a second lens with refractive power, a third lens with refractive power; a fourth lens with refractive power; a fifth lens with refractive power, and at least one of the image-side surface and object-side surface of each of the five lens elements is aspheric. The optical lens can increase aperture value and improve the imagining quality for use in compact cameras.