Focal sensor having optical low pass filter

Claim 2

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having double chirped diffraction gratings, said filter placed between said focusing lens and said image sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated.

Claim 3

A device as in claim 1 wherein said image sampling device comprises an automatic focusing device in combination with a means for determining the position of best focus of said focusing lens in order to project a focused image onto said at least one imaging plane.

Claim 4

A device as in claim 2 wherein said focusing lens and said imaging plane comprise a single lens reflex photographic device having: A. a viewing screen at a first desired imaging plane; B. a recording medium at a second desired imaging plane; C. a focus sensing device at a third desired imaging plane; D. a movable reflex mirror having a partially transmitting central portion, said mirror located between said focusing lens and said first and second imaging planes, such that when the reflex mirror is in a first position, the image created by the focusing lens is displayed on the viewing screen, and when the mirror is in a second position, the image is projected on said recording medium at the second desired imaging plane; and E. a second mirror behind said partially transmitting portion of said reflex mirror such that when the reflex mirror is in said first position, light from said focusing lens is relayed through said filter to said focus sensing device at the third desired imaging plane.

Claim 5

A device as in claim 2 wherein said focus sensing device comprises: A. a linear array of detectors; B. a row of micro-lenses corresponding to said array of detectors; C. means for collecting and comparing electrical signals from said detectors; and D. means of determining the degree and direction of focus error from said electrical signals.

Claim 6

A device as in claim 1 wherein said double chirped diffraction grating includes substantially parallel grooves in which: A. the grating frequency, F, at the filter center is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; B. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter; and C. the depth, h, of each groove is a function of the spatial period, q, of said grooves, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant and where q is inversely proportional to said spatial frequency.

Claim 7

A device as in claim 5, wherein the constant K is a number which depends upon the amplitude distribution of an incident light wave on the focusing lens and wherein the constant N is a number which is selected to determine the diffraction efficiency of the grating.

Claim 8

A device as in claim 3 wherein said double chirped diffraction grating is positioned between said second mirror and said focus sensing device such that the grooves of said grating are substantially perpendicular to the alignment of said linear array of detectors.

Claim 9

A device as in claim 7 wherein said filter comprises a scaled symmetrical double chirped diffraction grating having substantially parallel grooves in which: A. the grating frequency, F, at the filter center is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P, is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and K is a constant; B. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter; and C. the depth, h, of each groove is a function of the spatial period, q, of said grooves, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant.

Claim 10

A device as in claim 8, wherein the constant K is a number which depends upon the amplitude distribution of an incident light wave on the focusing lens and wherein the constant N is a number which is selected to determine the diffraction efficiency of the grating.

Claim 11

A device as in claim 1 wherein the focusing lens comprises an infrared optical system, and the image sensing device comprises an infrared detector array.

Claim 12

A device as in claim 1 wherein said double chirped diffraction grating is scaled as a function of its location in said system and which grating has substantially parallel grooves in which: A. the grating frequency, F, at the filter center is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; B. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter; and C. the depth, h, of each groove is a function of the spatial period, q, of said grooves, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant and where q is inversely proportional to said spatial frequency.

Claim 13

A device as in claim 11, wherein the constant K is a number which depends upon the amplitude distribution of an incident light wave on the focusing lens and wherein the constant N is a number which is selected to determine the diffraction efficiency of the grating.

Claim 14

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having double chirped diffraction gratings, wherein said gratings have substantially parallel grooves, and wherein said filter is placed between said focusing lens and said sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated; E. wherein the grating frequency, F, at the center of said filter is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; F. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter; and G. the depth, h, of said grooves is a function of the spatial period, q, of said grooves, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant and where q is inversely proportional to said spatial frequency.

Claim 15

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having double chirped diffraction gratings, wherein said gratings have substantially parallel grooves, and wherein said filter is placed between said focusing lens and said sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated; E. wherein the grating frequency, F, at the center of said filter is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; F. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter; and G. the depth, h, of said grooves is a function of the spatial period, q, of said grooves, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant and where q is inversely proportional to said spatial frequency.

Claim 16

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having double chirped diffraction gratings, said filter placed between said focusing lens and said image sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated; E. the grating frequency, F, at the center of said filter is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; F. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter; G. the depth, h, of said gratings is a function of the spatial period, q, of said gratings, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant, and where q is inversely proportional to said spatial frequency and further comprising H. an automatic focusing device in combination with a means for determining the position of best focus of said focusing lens in order to project a focused image onto said at least one imaging plane.

Claim 17

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having double chirped diffraction gratings, said filter placed between said focusing lens and said image sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated; E. the grating frequency, F, at the center of said filter is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; F. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter; G. the depth, h, of said gratings is a function of the spatial period, q, of said gratings, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant, and where q is inversely proportional to said spatial frequency and further comprising H. an automatic focusing device in combination with a means for determining the position of best focus of said focusing lens in order to project a focused image onto said at least one imaging plane.

Claim 18

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having double chirped diffraction gratings, said filter placed between said focusing lens and said image sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated; E. the grating frequency, F, at the center of said filter is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; and F. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter.

Claim 19

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having double chirped diffraction gratings, said filter placed between said focusing lens and said image sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated; E. the grating frequency, F, at the center of said filter is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; and F. the spatial frequency of the chirped grating increases substantially symmetrically toward the edges of said filter.

Claim 20

A device as in claim 15 wherein said image sampling device comprises an automatic focusing device in combination with a means for determining the position of best focus of said focusing lens in order to project a focused image onto said at least one imaging plane.

Claim 21

A device as in claim 16 wherein said focusing lens and said imaging plane comprise a single lens reflex photographic device having: A. a viewing screen at a first desired imaging plane; B. a recording medium at a second desired imaging plane; C. a focus sensing device at a third desired imaging plane; D. a movable reflex mirror having a partially transmitting central portion, said mirror located between said focusing lens and said first and second imaging planes, such that when the reflex mirror is in a first position the image created by the focusing lens is displayed on the viewing screen, and when the mirror is in a second position, the image is projected on said recording medium at the second desired imaging plane; and E. a second mirror behind said partially transmitting portion of said reflex mirror such that when the reflex mirror is in said first position, light from said focusing lens is relayed through said filter to said focus sensing device at the third desired imaging plane.

Claim 22

A device as in claim 17 wherein said gratings have a depth, h, which is a function of the spatial period, q, of said gratings, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant and where q is inversely proportional to said spatial frequency.

Claim 23

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having diffraction gratings, said filter placed between said focusing lens and said image sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated; E. wherein the grating frequency, F, at the center of said filter is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; and F. wherein the spatial frequency of the gratings increases as a function of the position of the gratings from the center of said filter toward the edges of said filter.

Claim 24

An optical imaging system for sampling a scene image at a focal plane, said system comprising: A. at least one imaging plane; B. a focusing lens for projecting an image onto said at least one imaging plane; C. an image sampling device located substantially on one of said at least one imaging plane, said image sampling device coupled for sampling said scene image at a desired frequency; D. a filter having diffraction gratings, said filter placed between said focusing lens and said image sampling device, whereby the high frequency content of said scene, which frequency is above the sampling frequency of the image sampling device, is substantially eliminated; E. wherein the grating frequency, F, at the center of said filter is determined by: F=(kwfP).sup.-1, where w is the operating wavelength of said imaging system, P is the desired cut-off frequency of said filter, f is the focal length of said focusing lens, and k is a constant; and F. wherein the spatial frequency of the gratings increases as a function of the position of the gratings from the center of said filter toward the edges of said filter.

Claim 25

A device as in claim 19 wherein said gratings have a depth, h, which is a function of the spatial period, q, of said gratings, determined by: h=Nq, where N is a constant and where q is inversely proportional to said spatial frequency.