Electroactive lens with multiple depth diffractive structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10054725-B2
Application number	US-201615074163-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2016
Priority date	Feb 27, 2012
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a system, machine, device, manufacture, circuit, composition of matter, and/or user interface adapted for and/or resulting from, and/or a method and/or machine-readable medium comprising machine-implementable instructions for, activities that can comprise and/or relate to, switch a diffractive first electro-active lens from a first power state corresponding to a first optical power to a second power state corresponding to a second optical power that differs from said first optical power.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electro-active lens comprising:
a Fresnel structure comprising:
a first zone defined by a first plurality of concentric rings, each ring from said first plurality of rings defined by a first maximum radial cross-section height, wherein at least one concentric ring in the first plurality of concentric rings has at least one of a rounded outer corner or a rounded inner corner; and
a second zone defined by a second plurality of concentric rings, each ring from said second plurality of rings defined by a second maximum radial cross-section height, said first maximum radial cross-section height differing from said second maximum radial cross-section height; and

liquid crystal material in optical communication with the Fresnel structure,
wherein said first maximum radial cross-section height is substantially equal to a first integer multiple of a quotient corresponding to a predetermined wavelength of light divided into an optical path difference of the electro-active lens.

2. The electro-active lens of claim 1 , wherein:
said second maximum radial cross-section height is substantially equal to a second integer multiple of said quotient.

3. The electro-active lens of claim 1 , wherein:
the optical path difference equals a difference between a first optical path length of the electro-active lens that corresponds to when said electro-active lens is electrically powered and a second optical path length of said electro-active lens that corresponds to when said electro-active lens is not electrically powered.

4. The electro-active lens of claim 1 , wherein:
said Fresnel structure is formed in a first substrate.

5. The electro-active lens of claim 4 , wherein:
the first substrate is flooded with the liquid crystal material.

6. The electro-active lens of claim 4 , wherein:
the first substrate, in cooperation with a second substrate, sandwiches the liquid crystal material.

7. The electro-active lens of claim 1 , wherein:
said electro-active lens forms part of at least one of an ophthalmic lens, a camera, a projector, or a solar concentrator.

8. The electro-active lens of claim 1 , in combination with at least one of another electro-active lens, a refractive electro-active lens, a fluidic lens, or a conventional refractive lens.

9. The electro-active lens of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of said second plurality of concentric rings has a rounded outer corner.

10. The electro-active lens of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of said second plurality of concentric rings has a rounded inner corner.

11. A method comprising:
in an electro-active lens comprising a Fresnel structure comprising:
a first zone defined by a first plurality of concentric rings, each ring from said first plurality of rings defined by a first maximum radial cross-section height, said first maximum radial cross-section height being substantially equal to a first integer multiple of a quotient corresponding to a predetermined wavelength of light divided into an optical path difference of the electro-active lens, wherein at least one concentric ring in said first plurality of concentric rings has at least one of a rounded outer corner or a rounded inner corner; and
a second zone defined by a second plurality of concentric rings, each ring from said second plurality of rings defined by a second maximum radial cross-section height differing from said second maximum radial cross-section height,

switching said electro-active lens from a first power state corresponding to a first optical power to a second power state corresponding to a second optical power that differs from said first optical power.

12. The electro-active lens of claim 1 , wherein:
the first plurality of rings defines a first peak in a first plane and the second plurality of rings defines a second peak in the first plane.

13. An electro-active lens having a variable optical power, the electro-active lens system comprising:
an electro-active material having a variable refractive index to change the variable optical power of the electro-active lens; and
a substrate in optical communication with the electro-active material, the substrate defining a structure comprising:
a first plurality of rings, each ring in the first plurality of rings having a first height and at least one rounded corner, the first height being substantially equal to a first integer multiple of a quotient corresponding to a predetermined wavelength of light divided into an optical path difference of the electro-active lens;
a second plurality of rings, concentric with the first plurality of rings, each ring in the second plurality of rings having a second height greater than the first height and at least one rounded corner.

14. The electro-active lens of claim 13 , wherein each ring in the first plurality of rings has a rounded inner corner and a rounded outer corner.

15. The electro-active lens of claim 14 , wherein each ring in the second plurality of rings has a rounded inner corner and a rounded outer corner.

16. The electro-active lens of claim 15 , wherein the first plurality of rings is closer to a center of the diffractive structure than the second plurality of rings.

17. The electro-active lens of claim 13 , wherein the first plurality of rings defines a first trough in a first plane and the second plurality of rings defines a second trough in a second plane below the first plane.

18. The electro-active lens of claim 17 , wherein the first plurality of rings defines a first peak in a third plane and the second plurality of rings defines a second peak in the third plane.

Assignees

• E Vision Smart Optics Inc

Inventors

• Van Heugten Anthony

Classifications

• G02B3/08 Primary

  with discontinuous faces, e.g. Fresnel lens {(diffractive Fresnel lenses G02B5/1876)} · CPC title

• G02B5/1828

  having means for producing variable diffraction (controlling the direction of light by means of one or more diffracting elements G02B26/0808; acousto-optical elements G02F1/11, G02F1/33; electro- or magneto-optical diffraction G02F1/292, G02F1/2955) · CPC title

• G02F2001/291

  Physics · mapped topic

• G02C7/083

  Electrooptic lenses · CPC title

• G02B5/188

  Plurality of such optical elements formed in or on a supporting substrate · CPC title