Illumination modules for translating light

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10761192-B2
Application number	US-201615755269-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2016
Priority date	Aug 28, 2015
Publication date	Sep 1, 2020
Grant date	Sep 1, 2020

Abstract

This disclosure relates to illumination modules operable to increase the area over which an illumination source, such as a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser or light-emitting diode, illuminates. Such illumination modules include a substrate having electrical contacts, an illumination source electrically connected to the substrate, a collimation assembly operable to collimate the light generated from the illumination source, a translation assembly operable to translate light over an area, and a mask assembly. In various implementations the illumination source may be rather small in area, thereby reducing the cost of the illumination module. Some implementations of the illumination module can be used for the acquisition of three-dimensional data in some cases, while in other cases some implementations of the illumination module can be used for other applications requiring projected light.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An illumination module, the illumination module comprising:
a substrate having electrical contacts;
an illumination source electrically connected to the substrate, wherein the illumination source is operable to generate light of a particular range of wavelengths;
the light having a first intensity distribution laterally extending over a first illumination area;
the first illumination area and the first intensity distribution defining a first centroid;
an illumination axis intersecting the first centroid of the first illumination area, wherein the illumination axis is substantially orthogonal to the first illumination area;
a collimation assembly operable to collimate the light generated from the illumination source, the collimation assembly transmitting a collimated light;
a translation assembly, operable to translate the collimated light, the translation assembly transmitting a translated light;
the translated light having a second intensity distribution laterally extending over a second illumination area;
the second illumination area and the second intensity distribution defining a second centroid;
a mask assembly, operable to transmit the translated light, the mask assembly transmitting a mask light;
the mask light having a third intensity distribution laterally extending over a third illumination area;
the third illumination area and the third intensity distribution defining a third centroid;
the collimation assembly, the translation assembly, and the mask assembly being mounted within a housing and aligned with the illumination axis, wherein the collimation assembly and the translation assembly are optically disposed between the illumination source and the mask assembly; and
wherein the second illumination area is greater than the first illumination area.

2. An illumination module according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a mask substrate having a first surface and a second surface, the mask substrate being substantially transparent to light of a particular range of wavelengths;
a mask layer having a mask surface in contact with the first surface of the mask substrate, the mask surface defining a plurality of first mask-layer regions wherein each first mask-layer region is substantially non-transparent to the particular range of wavelengths and a plurality of second mask-layer regions wherein each second mask-layer regions is substantially transparent to the particular range of wavelengths, wherein the mask surface defining the first mask-layer regions is substantially reflective to the particular range of wavelengths; and
a reflection layer, having a first reflection surface in contact with the second surface of the mask substrate and a second reflection surface, the first reflection surface defining a plurality of first reflection-layer regions and a plurality of second reflection-layer regions; and
wherein each first reflection-layer region is substantially non-transparent to the particular range of wavelengths and each second reflection-layer region is substantially transparent to the particular range of wavelengths, the reflection surface defining the plurality of first reflection-layer regions being substantially reflective to the particular range of wavelengths.

3. The illumination module of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of first and second mask-layer regions are regularly distributed over the mask surface.

4. The illumination module of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of first and second mask-layer regions are irregularly distributed over the mask surface.

5. The illumination module of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of first and second reflection-layer regions are regularly distributed over the mask surface.

6. The illumination module of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of first and second reflection-layer regions are irregularly distributed over the mask surface.

7. An illumination module according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a translation assembly substrate having a first translation assembly substrate surface and a second translation assembly substrate surface, wherein the translation assembly substrate is substantially transparent to the light of the particular wavelength generated by the illumination source;
a plurality of first reflective elements mounted on the second translation assembly substrate surface, wherein each first reflective element within the plurality of first reflective elements includes a respective first reflective surface;
a plurality of second reflective elements, wherein each second reflective element within the plurality of second reflective elements includes a respective second reflective surface, the plurality of second reflective elements being operable to reflect light reflected from the plurality of first reflective elements; and
wherein the light of the particular wavelengths generated by the illumination source is incident on the plurality of first reflective elements generating a first reflected light that reflects from the second reflective elements generating a second reflected light.

8. The illumination module of claim 7 , wherein the first reflective elements are convex-parabolic mirrors.

9. The The illumination module of claim 7 , wherein the second reflective elements are concave-parabolic mirrors.

10. The illumination module of claim 7 , wherein the first and second translation substrate surfaces are substantially transparent to the light of the particular wavelength generated by the illumination source.

11. The illumination module of claim 7 , wherein the first and second translation substrate surfaces are operable to transmit the light of the particular wavelength generated by the illumination source having a particular angle of incidence.

12. An illumination module according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of reflective elements, each reflective element within the plurality of reflective elements having a respective reflective surface;
wherein the light of the particular wavelengths generated by the illumination source is incident on the plurality of reflective elements, the light incident on the plurality of reflective elements being a portion of the translated light.

13. The illumination module of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of reflective elements further comprises transparent regions that are substantially transparent to light of the particular wavelength generated by the illumination source; the light incident on the transparent regions being a portion of the translated light.

14. An illumination module as in claim 1 , in which the collimation assembly further includes refractive and/or diffractive optical elements.

15. An illumination module as in claim 1 , in which the illumination source comprises an array of discrete light sources, wherein a collimating lens is disposed with respect to each light source of the array of discrete light sources.

16. An illumination module as in claim 1 , in which the illumination source further comprises an array of discrete illumination sources, each discrete illumination source having a first numerical aperture.

17. An illumination module as in claim 1 , in which the first intensity distribution laterally extending over the first illumination area is homogeneously distributed.

18. An illumination module as in claim 1 , in which the first intensity distribution laterally extending over the first illumination areas is heterogeneously distributed.

19. An illumination module as in claim 1 , in which the portion of light generates discrete features, the discrete features b

Assignees

• Ams Sensors Singapore Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Bakin Dmitry
• Doron Moshe
• Gloor Matthias
• Rossi Markus

Classifications

• H01S5/02255

  using beam deflecting elements · CPC title

• G02B19/0066

  in the form of an LED array · CPC title

• G02B19/0061

  the light source comprising a LED · CPC title

• G02B19/0028

  refractive and reflective surfaces, e.g. non-imaging catadioptric systems · CPC title

• G02B3/0056

  arranged along two different directions in a plane, e.g. honeycomb arrangement of lenses (G02B3/0043 takes precedence; miniaturised objectives for electronic devices employing wafer level optics G02B13/0085) · CPC title