Optical projection system

Claim 2

An optical projection system of unit magnification for transmitting a real erect image of an object from an object plane to an image plane, that comprises a plurality of lenses with parallel optical axes and being arranged in one or more rows, each of said lenses comprising three lens elements arranged along a common optical path extending between the object and image planes, the first lens element nearer to the object plane being adapted to form an inverted intermediate image upon an intermediate image plane, the second lens element being arranged at or near the intermediate plane to prevent the lens from experiencing the loss of light rays, the third element nearer to the image plane being adapted to transmit and invert the intermediate image on the image plane, characterized in that each of said lenses includes two aperture masks which subtend light rays from the axial and off-axis object points in the object plane, one of said aperture masks being arranged between the first and second lens elements and at a position closer to the first lens element and farther from the second lens element, the other mask being arranged between the second and third lens elements and at a position closer to the third lens element and farther from the second lens element.

Claim 3

The optical projection system according to claim 1 wherein the lenses have a magnification of a intermediate image ranging from -0.25× to -0.6×.

Claim 4

The optical projection system according to claim 1 wherein said lenses are constructed by three lenticular sheets, each of which includes a plurality of lenticular elements arranged in one or more rows.

Claim 5

The optical projection system according to claim 1 wherein all the refracting surfaces of all the lenses have numerically equal radii of curvature.

Claim 6

The optical projection system according to claim 1 wherein the lenses are arranged in two or more parallel rows so that the lenses in one row are shifted by a distance equal to one-half of the distance between the neighboring optical axes of any two of the lenses in the neighboring row.

Claim 7

An optical projection system of unit magnification for transmitting an erect real image from an object plane to an image plane, comprising a plurality of lenses having parallel optical axes and being arranged in one or more rows, each of said lenses comprising four lens elements arranged along a common optical path extending between the object and image planes, said lens elements being classified into two groups which are symmetric with respect to an intermediate image plane, the first group consisting of two lens elements on the side of the object plane and forming a real inverted intermediate image of the object on the intermediate plane, the second group consisting of the remaining two lens elements on the side of the image plane and transmitting and inverting the intermediate image on the image plane, each of said lenses including at least two aperture masks which subtend light rays from the axial and off-axis object points in the object plane, one of said aperture masks being arranged within the first group of lens elements, the other being arranged within the second group of lens elements.

Claim 8

An optical projection system of unit magnification for transmitting an erect real image from an object plane to an image plane, comprising a plurality of lenses having parallel optical axes and being arranged in one or more rows, each of said lenses comprising four lens elements arranged along a common optical path extending between the object and image planes, said lens elements being classified into two groups which are symmetric with respect to an intermediate image plane, the first group consisting of two lens elements on the side of the object plane and forming a real inverted intermediate image of the object on the intermediate plane, the second group consisting of the remaining two lens elements on the side of the image plane and transmitting and inverting the intermediate image on the image plane, each of said lenses including at least two aperture masks which subtend light rays from the axial and off-axis object points in the object plane, one of said aperture masks being arranged within the first group of lens elements, the other being arranged within the second group of lens elements.

Claim 9

The optical projection system according to claim 6 wherein said lenses have a magnification of an intermediate image ranging from -0.3× to -0.7×.

Claim 10

The optical projection system according to claim 6 wherein said lenses are constructed by three lenticular sheets, each of which includes a plurality of lenticular elements arranged in one or more rows.

Claim 11

The optical projection system according to claim 6 wherein all the refracting surfaces of all the lenses have numerically equal radii of curvature.

Claim 12

The optical projection system according to claim 6 wherein the lenses are arranged in two or more parallel rows so that the lenses in one row are shifted by a distance equal to one-half of the distance between the neighboring optical axes of any two of the lenses in the neighboring row.

Claim 13

An optical projection system of unit magnification for transmitting an erect real image from an object plane to an image plane, comprising a plurality of lenses arranged in one or more rows with parallel optical axes, each of said lenses comprising four lens elements arranged along a common optical path extending between the object and image planes, said lens elements being classified into two groups which are symmetric with respect to an intermediate plane, the first group consisting of two lens elements on the side of the object plane and forming a real inverted image of the object on the intermediate plane, the second group consisting of the remaining two lens elements on the side of the intermediate image plane and transmitting and inverting the intermediate image on the image plane, each of said lenses including two aperture masks which subtend light rays from the axial and off-axis object points, one of said aperture mask being arranged in front of the first group of lens elements, the other mask being arranged at the back of the second group of lens elements.

Claim 14

An optical projection system of unit magnification for transmitting an erect real image from an object plane to an image plane, comprising a plurality of lenses arranged in one or more rows with parallel optical axes, each of said lenses comprising four lens elements arranged along a common optical path extending between the object and image planes, said lens elements being classified into two groups which are symmetric with respect to an intermediate plane, the first group consisting of two lens elements on the side of the object plane and forming a real inverted image of the object on the intermediate plane, the second group consisting of the remaining two lens elements on the side of the intermediate image plane and transmitting and inverting the intermediate image on the image plane, each of said lenses including two aperture masks which subtend light rays from the axial and off-axis object points, one of said aperture mask being arranged in front of the first group of lens elements, the other mask being arranged at the back of the second group of lens elements.

Claim 15

The optical projection system according to claim 11 wherein said lenses have a magnification of an intermediate image ranging from -0.35× to -0.7×.

Claim 16

The optical projection system according to claim 11 wherein said lenses are constructed by three lenticular sheets, each of which includes a plurality of lenticular elements arranged in one or more rows.

Claim 17

The optical projection system according to claim 11 wherein all the refracting surfaces of all the lenses have numerically equal radii of curvature.

Claim 18

The optical projection system according to claim 11 wherein the lenses are arranged in two or more parallel rows so that the lenses in one row are shifted by a distance equal to one-half of the distance between the neighboring optical axes of any two of the lenses in the neighboring row.

Claim 19

The optical projection system of claim 1 further comprising the following design parameters: ______________________________________ radius of axial refractive curvature distance index (mm) (mm) (for the e line) material ______________________________________ r.sub.1 6.253 d.sub.1 3.0 N.sub.1 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.2 -6.253 d.sub.2 7.4 r.sub.3 6.253 d.sub.3 3.0 N.sub.2 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.4 -6.253 d.sub.4 7.4 r.sub.5 6.253 d.sub.5 3.0 N.sub.3 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.6 -6.253 ______________________________________

Claim 20

The optical system of claim 11 further comprising the following design parameters: ______________________________________ radius of axial refractive curvature distance index (mm) (mm) (for the e line) material ______________________________________ r.sub.1 2.092 d.sub.1 2.5 N.sub.1 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.2 -2.092 d.sub.2 0.6 r.sub.3 2.092 d.sub.3 2.5 N.sub.2 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.4 -2.092 d.sub.4 0.5 r.sub.5 2.092 d.sub.5 2.5 N.sub.3 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.6 -2.092 d.sub.6 0.6 r.sub.7 2.092 N.sub.4 1.493 acrylic resin d.sub.7 2.5 r.sub.8 -2.092 ______________________________________

Claim 21

The optical projection system of claim 11 further comprising the following design parameters: ______________________________________ radius of axial refractive curvature distance index (mm) (mm) (for the e line) material ______________________________________ r.sub.1 8.99 d.sub.1 3.0 N.sub.1 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.2 -8.99 d.sub.2 6.0 r.sub.3 8.99 d.sub.3 3.0 N.sub.2 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.4 -8.99 d.sub.4 7.6 r.sub.5 8.99 d.sub.5 3.0 N.sub.3 1.493 acrylic resin r.sub.6 -8.99 d.sub.6 6.0 r.sub.7 8.99 N.sub.4 1.493 acrylic resin d.sub.7 3.0 r.sub.8 -8.99 ______________________________________