System for forming a quadrifid image comprising angularly related fields of view of a three dimensional object

Claim 2

In a system for simultaneously forming a quadrifid image at the film plane of a camera consisting of three equally well focused separate images of a plurality of angularly related fields of view of a common three dimensional object, the improvement comprising: A. a first reflective means adjacently related to a three dimensional object including surfaces for reflecting an image of a field of view of a first object plane of said object along a first folded path of a given length extended between the first object plane and a film plane of a camera; B. second reflective means adjacently related to the three dimensional object including a plurality of surfaces for reflecting an image of a field of view of a second object plane of said object angularly related to said first object plane along a second folded path having a length equal to the length of the first folded path and extended between the second object plane and the film plane; C. third reflective means adjacently related to the three dimensional object including a third plurality of surfaces for reflecting an image of a field of view of a third object plane of said object angularly related to said first object plane along a third folded path having a length equal to the lengths of the first and second paths and extended between the third object plane and the film plane; and D. means for illuminating each of the object planes including a beam splitter disposed in each of said folded paths and a source of light optically coupled with each of the beam splitters for propagating beams of light along axes extended toward said object.

Claim 3

In a system for simultaneously forming a quadrifid image at the film plane of a camera consisting of three equally well focused separate images of a plurality of angularly related fields of view of a common three dimensional object, the improvement comprising: A. a first reflective means including at least a pair of reflective surfaces disposed in mutual parallelism adjacently related to a three dimensional object for reflecting an image of a field of view of a first object plane of said object along a first folded path of a given length extended between the first object plane and a film plane of a camera characterized by a plurality of ray path segments including a first terminal path segment perpendicularly related to the film plane; B. second reflective means including at least a pair of reflective surfaces disposed in mutual parallelism adjacently related to the three dimensional object for reflecting an image of a field of view of a second object plane of said object angularly related to said first object plane along a second folded path having a length equal to the length of the first folded path and extended between the second object plane and the film plane and characterized by a plurality of ray path segments, including a second terminal path segment coincident with said first terminal path segment; C. third reflective means including at least a pair of reflective surfaces disposed in mutual parallelism adjacently related to the three dimensional object for reflecting an image of a field of view of a third object plane of said object angularly related to said first and second object planes along a third folded path having a length equal to the lengths of the first and second paths and extended between the third object plane and the film plane and characterized by a plurality of ray path segments, including a third terminal path segment coincident with said first and second terminal path segments; and D. means for illuminating each of the object planes including a beam splitter disposed in each of said folded paths, and a source of light optically coupled with each of the beam splitters for propagating beams of light along axes extended toward said object.

Claim 4

In a system for simultaneously forming a quadrifid image at the film plane of a camera consisting of three equally well focused separate images of a plurality of angularly related fields of view of a common three dimensional object, the improvement comprising: A. a first reflective means including at least a pair of reflective surfaces disposed in mutual parallelism adjacently related to a three dimensional object for reflecting an image of a field of view of a first object plane of said object along a first folded path of a given length extended between the first object plane and a film plane of a camera characterized by a plurality of ray path segments including a first terminal path segment perpendicularly related to the film plane; B. second reflective means including at least a pair of reflective surfaces disposed in mutual parallelism adjacently related to the three dimensional object for reflecting an image of a field of view of a second object plane of said object angularly related to said first object plane along a second folded path having a length equal to the length of the first folded path and extended between the second object plane and the film plane and characterized by a plurality of ray path segments, including a second terminal path segment coincident with said first terminal path segment; C. third reflective means including at least a pair of reflective surfaces disposed in mutual parallelism adjacently related to the three dimensional object for reflecting an image of a field of view of a third object plane of said object angularly related to said first and second object planes along a third folded path having a length equal to the lengths of the first and second paths and extended between the third object plane and the film plane and characterized by a plurality of ray path segments, including a third terminal path segment coincident with said first and second terminal path segments; and D. means for illuminating each of the object planes including a beam splitter disposed in each of said folded paths, and a source of light optically coupled with each of the beam splitters for propagating beams of light along axes extended toward said object.