Low profile episcopic projector and opaque materials therefor

Claim 1

A large copy optical projector capable of imaging a generally horizontal coPy subject on a generally vertical viewing screen spaced from said projector, said copy subject having an upper face and a lower face, light incident on said lower face being specularly reflected by a specular reflector optically associated with said copy subject, said optical projector comprising: a. housing means defining an enclosed chamber, said housing means having a substantially horizontal upper portion and a plurality of edge portions, said housing means having a first opening in its upper portion and a second opening in one of its edge portions, said chamber including an illuminating path and an imaging path; b. a Fresnel lens at said first opening disposed substantially in a first plane, said Fresnel lens being substantially coextensive with said first opening, the forward edge of said Fresnel lens being remote from an operator and the rearward edge of said Fresnel lens being adjacent to said operator; c. said copy subject when releasably placed at said Fresnel lens, being approximately coextensive therewith; d. objective lens means at said second opening for receiving imaging light along said imaging path and defining a projection axis that is directed toward said generally vertical viewing screen, said objective lens means defining a pair of conjugate surfaces; e. lamp means in said chamber for directing illuminating light along said illuminating path; f. forward mirror means disposed substantially in a second plane substantially perpendicular to said first plane; g. rearward mirror means underlying said Fresnel lens within said chamber and sloping downwardly from said operator toward said forward mirror means; h. said illuminating light diverging in said illuminating path along a first illuminating axis segment to said rearward mirror means and a second illuminating axis segment to said Fresnel lens; i. said imaging light converging in said imaging path along a first imaging axis segment to said rearward mirror means, a second imaging axis segment to said forward mirror means and a third imaging axis segment to said objective lens means; j. said copy subject being disposed at one of said conjugate surfaces, an image of said copy subject being disposed at the other of said conjugate surfaces, said copy subject and said image being disposed substantially on opposite sides of a viewing axis.