Patent US3980394A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3980394A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Stereo viewing
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1975-07-07
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Granted: 1976-09-14
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Expires: 1995-07-07
Abstract
Abstract A stereoscopic camera having wide angle lenses separated by the normal interpupillary distance photographs a scene on separate 38 mm-square frames of 120-size film strip to provide a left slide and a right slide. The stereoscopic viewer for viewing these slides has separate left eye and right eye assemblies with wide angle lenses having the same focal length as the lenses in the camera and separate supports for the slides. Each of the lenses is individually focusable and provides a borderless, circular field of view. The respective assemblies are relatively displaceable to enable the observer to set the interpupillary distance that best suits him. The slides are illuminated with light reflected from a generally cylindrical opaque screen and originating from a light bulb substantially at the axis of the cylindrical screen.
Inventors
- 👤 Kenyon L. Zapf
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 13:59
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02B; G02B23/00; G02B23/16; G02B23/18; G02B30/00; G02B30/20; G02B30/34; G03; G03B; G03B35/00; G03B35/08; G03B35/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 31
Claim 1
Independent Claim
149 words
Stereoscopic apparatus comprising, means defining left and right viewing assmblies, each of said viewing assemblies carrying lens means and pictorial representation support means in fixed relationship, each of said lens means having an optical axis, support means for carrying said left and right viewing assemblies with said lens means optical axes generally parallel, means for relatively displacing said left and right viewing assemblies for establishing a desired interpupillary distance, each of said viewing assemblies comprising slide support means for supporting a slide of a first area, aperture means between said lens means and said slide support means of second area less than said first area, said lens means being wide angle, means for illuminating the rear of said left and right viewing assemblies, said means for illuminating comprising an opaque screen exhibiting circular symmetry, and a light bulb at the center of a circle included by said opaque screen.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
149 words
Stereoscopic apparatus comprising, means defining left and right viewing assmblies, each of said viewing assemblies carrying lens means and pictorial representation support means in fixed relationship, each of said lens means having an optical axis, support means for carrying said left and right viewing assemblies with said lens means optical axes generally parallel, means for relatively displacing said left and right viewing assemblies for establishing a desired interpupillary distance, each of said viewing assemblies comprising slide support means for supporting a slide of a first area, aperture means between said lens means and said slide support means of second area less than said first area, said lens means being wide angle, means for illuminating the rear of said left and right viewing assemblies, said means for illuminating comprising an opaque screen exhibiting circular symmetry, and a light bulb at the center of a circle included by said opaque screen.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
25 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising reflecting means ahead of said light bulb for preventing direct illumination of said viewing assemblies.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
42 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the slide area is square and the aperture is circular of diameter slightly less than the length of the slide side and is centered within a projection of the square defined by the slide.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein the horizontal viewing angle of each of said lens means is at least 35°.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein the horizontal viewing angle of each of said lens means is at least 55°.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
153 words
Stereoscopic apparatus comprising, means defining left and right viewing assemblies, each of said viewing assemblies carrying lens means and pictorial representation support means in fixed relationship and defining a plane of said representation coinciding with the depth of field of said lens means, said means having optical axes, support means for carrying said left and right viewing assemblies with said lens means optical axes generally parallel, means for relatively displacing said left and right viewing assemblies for establishing a desired interpupillary distance, each of said viewing assemblies comprising picture support means for supporting a picture of a first area, and means for preventing the observer from seeing the border of the picture when supported in said means for supporting and thereby increasing the illusion of looking at the actual scene and comprising means for causing the edge of the field of view to be out of focus while the representation is in focus.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
153 words
Stereoscopic apparatus comprising, means defining left and right viewing assemblies, each of said viewing assemblies carrying lens means and pictorial representation support means in fixed relationship and defining a plane of said representation coinciding with the depth of field of said lens means, said means having optical axes, support means for carrying said left and right viewing assemblies with said lens means optical axes generally parallel, means for relatively displacing said left and right viewing assemblies for establishing a desired interpupillary distance, each of said viewing assemblies comprising picture support means for supporting a picture of a first area, and means for preventing the observer from seeing the border of the picture when supported in said means for supporting and thereby increasing the illusion of looking at the actual scene and comprising means for causing the edge of the field of view to be out of focus while the representation is in focus.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
36 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said means for preventing comprises field-stop-defining means on the lens means side of the plane of the representation and outside the depth of field of said lens means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 7 wherein said field stop means are between said lens means and said plane.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 7 wherein said field stop means are located on the eye side of the lens means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein each of said lens means comprises an achromatic doublet lens.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein each of said lens means comprises a single piece of optical material.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
19 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 11 wherein each of said lens means comprises a single plano-convex lens element.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said optical axes are essentially parallel in essentially all relatively displaced positions of said viewing assemblies.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
41 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said means for relatively displacing comprises a lateral slide track with both said assemblies mounted thereon with at least one of said assemblies being slidable thereon laterally with respect to the optical axes.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
50 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein the pictorial representation is within a rectangular border and the intersection of the limiting rays of a generally conical field of view with the plane of the pictorial representation is non-rectangular and centered within the pictorial representation borders in non-overlapping relation therewith.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
40 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said pictorial representations are transparencies and further comprising, means illuminating the plane of said representations in each of said left and right viewing assemblies from their sides away from the lens means.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
34 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein said means for illuminating comprise an opaque screen exhibiting circular symmetry, and a light bulb at the center of a circle included by said opaque screen.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
27 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 17 and further comprising reflecting means on lens side of said light bulb for preventing direct illumination of said viewing assemblies.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
35 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein said support means and assembly displacing means maintain the general parallelism of optical axes of said viewing assemblies essentially throughout the range of interpupillary distance adjustments thereof.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
32 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein said means for illuminating comprise translucent screens located one-eighth to one inch beyond each of said planes in said left and right viewing assemblies.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
36 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 6 and further comprising means for establishing the virtual image of said means for preventing closer to the observer than the virtual image of the pictorial representation in said plane.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
87 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 21 wherein said means for preventing includes field stops, and the means for establishing the virtual image of said means for preventing closer to the observer than the virtual image of the pictorial representation in said plane comprises means for forming the stereoscopic virtual image of the field stops discernibly closer to the observer than the stereoscopic virtual image of the pictorial representation, essentially throughout the full range of focus adjustments and interpupillary adjustments of said left and right viewing assemblies.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
34 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 6 and further comprising means for selectively locking at least one viewing assembly to the support means and unlocking the viewing assembly therefrom to allow said relative displacing.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
48 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 23 wherein said locking and unlocking means comprise an assembly in the viewing assembly of retaining set-screw, driving compression spring, and locking ball locking ball into one of several available openings arrayed along a length of the surface of the support means.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
33 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein each viewing assembly comprises a tubular lens retainer whose length forward of the lens toward the transparency and inner dimensions constitute said means for preventing.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
13 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 25 wherein said tubular retainer is cylindrical.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
68 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 25 and further comprising, means defining an eyepiece assembly including an eye-relief portion extending behind the lens to establish eye spacing from the lens and from the forward end of said tubular retainer in order to position the observer's eye to accept no wider cone of light rays than the desired cone just grazing the inside front end of said tubular retainer.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
22 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 27 and further comprising means for selectively adjusting the spacing between the lens and the transparency.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
45 words
Stereoscopic apparatus in accordance with claim 28 wherein said last mentioned means for selectively adjusting comprise an assembly of two threaded telescoped pieces with multiple leads and means for selectively locking the two pieces against relative longitudinal movement and unlocking them to allow such movement.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US1808176A
Cited
US2336288A
Cited
GB599029A
Cited
US2787191A
Cited
US2814966A
Cited
US3376381A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1979-09-14 | 1980-03-15 | 1980-09-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1983-09-14 | 1984-03-15 | 1984-09-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1987-09-14 | 1988-03-15 | 1988-09-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |