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US4988174A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Zoom lens

Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 1989-05-23
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Granted: 1991-01-29
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Expires: 2009-05-23
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Abstract

Abstract A zoom lens comprises, from an object side to an image plane side, a positive first lens unit for focusing, a negative second lens unit as the variator, a negative third lens unit as the compensator, a positive fourth lens unit for producing an almost diverging light beam, and an image forming fifth lens unit. The fifth lens unit includes a bi-convex first lens, a negative second lens having a concave surface facing the object side, a bi-convex third lens having a strong refracting surface facing the object side, a negative fourth lens having a concave surface facing the image plane side, a bi-convex fifth lens having a strong refracting surface facing the image plane side, and a bi-convex sixth lens having a strong refracting surface facing the object side. The zoom lens satisfies the following conditions: 1.05<f4/L<1.3 20.4<|R5,4/fw|<30.6 0<fw/R5,7<0.076 1.58<(N5,1+N5,3+N5,5+N5,6)/4<1.86 where L is a distance from the convergent point of an on-axial light beam having passed through the first to third units to a front principal point of the fourth lens unit, f4 is a focal length of the fourth lens unit, N5,i is a refractive index of a medium of the i-th lens in the fifth lens unit, R5,i is a radius of curvature of the i-th lens surface in the fifth lens unit, and fw is the shortest focal length of the entire lens system.

Inventors

  • 👤 Akihisa Horiuchi
  • 👤 Hiroyuki Hamano

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-28 16:43
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02B; G02B15/00; G02B15/14; G02B15/145; G02B15/1451; G02B15/145125; G02B27/00; G02B27/0018

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 3
Claim 1
Independent Claim 302 words
A zoom lens comprising, from an object side to an image plane side, a first lens unit of positive refractive power for focusing, a second lens unit of negative refractive power having an image magnification varying function, a third lens unit of negative refractive power for compensating for the image shift resulting from variation of the image magnification, a fourth lens unit of positive refractive power for making a light beam from said third lens unit to be an almost divergent light beam, and a fifth lens unit having an image forming function, said fifth lens unit including, from the object side of the image plane side, a first lens of which both lens surfaces are convex, a negative second lens having a concave surface facing the object side, a positive third lens which has a strong refracting surface facing the object side and of which both lens surfaces are convex, a negative fourth lens having a concave surface facing the image plane side, a fifth lens which has a strong refracting surface facing the image plane side and of which both lens surfaces are convex, and a positive sixth lens having a strong refractive surface directed toward the object side, and said zoom lens satisfying the following conditions: 1.05<f4/L<1.3 20.4<|R5,4/fw|<30.6 0<fw/R5,7<0.076 1.58<(N5,1+N5,3+N5,5+N5.6)/4<1.85 where L is a distance from a convergent point of an on-axial light beam having passed through said first to third lens units to a front principal point of said fourth lens unit, f4 is a focal length of said fourth lens unit, N5,i is a refractive index of a medium of the i-th lens in said fifth lens unit, R5, i is a radius of curvature of the i-th lens surface in said fifth lens unit, and fw is the shortest focal length of the entire lens system.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 302 words
A zoom lens comprising, from an object side to an image plane side, a first lens unit of positive refractive power for focusing, a second lens unit of negative refractive power having an image magnification varying function, a third lens unit of negative refractive power for compensating for the image shift resulting from variation of the image magnification, a fourth lens unit of positive refractive power for making a light beam from said third lens unit to be an almost divergent light beam, and a fifth lens unit having an image forming function, said fifth lens unit including, from the object side of the image plane side, a first lens of which both lens surfaces are convex, a negative second lens having a concave surface facing the object side, a positive third lens which has a strong refracting surface facing the object side and of which both lens surfaces are convex, a negative fourth lens having a concave surface facing the image plane side, a fifth lens which has a strong refracting surface facing the image plane side and of which both lens surfaces are convex, and a positive sixth lens having a strong refractive surface directed toward the object side, and said zoom lens satisfying the following conditions: 1.05<f4/L<1.3 20.4<|R5,4/fw|<30.6 0<fw/R5,7<0.076 1.58<(N5,1+N5,3+N5,5+N5.6)/4<1.85 where L is a distance from a convergent point of an on-axial light beam having passed through said first to third lens units to a front principal point of said fourth lens unit, f4 is a focal length of said fourth lens unit, N5,i is a refractive index of a medium of the i-th lens in said fifth lens unit, R5, i is a radius of curvature of the i-th lens surface in said fifth lens unit, and fw is the shortest focal length of the entire lens system.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 34 words
A zoom lens according to claim 1, further satisfying the following conditions: -1.35<R5,1/R5,3<-1.03 2.14<R5,5/fw<2.47 1.28<R5,8/fw<1.53 1.96<R5,9/R5,11<4.76 0.13<D5,2/fw<0.20 1.02<D5,6/fw<1.24 0.10<D5,8/fw<0.17 where D5,i is the i-th axial thickness or air separation in said fifth lens unit.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4621905A Cited
US4770510A Cited
US4846563A Cited
US4812024A Cited
US4832471A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1994-01-28 1994-07-30 1995-01-29 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1998-01-28 1998-07-30 1999-01-29 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2002-01-28 2002-07-30 2003-01-29 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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