Camera device for generating an image of surroundings

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022272258-A1
Application number	US-202017628442-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 11, 2020
Priority date	Aug 29, 2019
Publication date	Aug 25, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A camera device having an enlarged or wide-angle field of view generates images of surroundings simultaneously using only one image capturing unit, such as an image sensor, for example. The camera device uses a diverting unit disposed upstream of the image capturing unit. The diverting unit includes so-called holographic optical elements which, based on their deflection structures, divert or deflect light so that the camera device can capture the wide-angle field of view, without generating imaging aberrations on the resulting image(s). The deflection structures are wavelength-selective and/or angle-selective. The total field of view is subdivided into individual angle-of-incidence regions by virtue of the properties of the deflection structures.

First claim

1 .- 11 . (canceled)

12 . A camera device, comprising:
a light guiding medium configured as an optical waveguide; an input coupling region disposed at the light guiding medium, the input coupling region including at least two input coupling deflection structures, each of which is configured to couple into the light guiding medium light in a predefined spectral range, the light being incident on respective input coupling deflection structures among the at least two input coupling deflection structures from a respectively predefined angle-of-incidence region among angle-of-incidence regions from surroundings of the camera device, wherein the at least two input coupling deflection structures are selective vis a vis different spectral ranges and the angle-of-incidence regions; an output coupling region disposed at the light guiding medium, the output coupling region including at least two output coupling deflection structures, each of which is configured to couple out from the light guiding medium the light in the predefined spectral range coupled in by the respective input coupling deflection structures; and an image capturing unit disposed at the output coupling region, the image capturing unit including at least two capture regions, each of which is configured to capture the light coupled out by respective output coupling deflection structures among the at least two output coupling deflection structures, and the image capturing unit being configured to generate image data based on the light coupled out by the respective output coupling deflection structures, wherein the light guiding medium is configured to transmit the light coupled in by the respective input coupling deflection structures from the input coupling region to the output coupling region by internal reflection.

13 . The camera device as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising a computing unit configured to generate respectively separate images from the image data generated by the image capturing unit.

14 . The camera device as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising a computing unit configured to generate a common image from the image data generated by the image capturing unit.

15 . The camera device as claimed in claim 12 , wherein
at least one of the at least two input coupling deflection structures includes a first optical grating, and at least one of the two output coupling deflection structures includes a second optical grating.

16 . The camera device as claimed in claim 15 , wherein
the first optical grating includes at least one of a first surface holographic grating and a first volume holographic grating, and the second optical grating includes at least one of a second surface holographic grating and a second volume holographic grating.

17 . The camera device as claimed in claim 12 , wherein
the at least two input coupling deflection structures are integrally formed with the light guiding medium, or the at least two input coupling deflection structures are formed as a separate element with respect to the light guiding medium, and the at least two output coupling deflection structures are integrally formed with the light guiding medium, or the at least two output coupling deflection structures are formed as a separate element with respect to the light guiding medium.

18 . The camera device as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the at least two input coupling deflection structures are disposed serially one after another in relation to a direction of incidence of the light or are disposed in a planar fashion next to one another in the input coupling region.

19 . The camera device as claimed in claim 12 , wherein each of the input coupling deflection structures has an area which is larger than an area of a respectively assigned output coupling deflection structure among the at least two output coupling deflection structures.

20 . The camera device as claimed in claim 12 , wherein
each of the input coupling deflection structures is configured as an optical grating having a focusing grating structure to deflect light beams of the light to be diverted, the light impinging on respective input coupling deflection structures among the at least two input coupling deflection structures from the surroundings, to different extents based on an incidence location, such that each of the respective input coupling deflection structures focuses the light beams toward respectively assigned output coupling deflection structures among the at least two output coupling deflection structures, and each of the output coupling deflection structures is configured as an optical grating having a diverging grating structure to deflect the light coupled in by the respective input coupling deflection structures from the input coupling region, the light impinging on respective output coupling deflection structures among the at least two output coupling deflection structures, to different extents based on an incidence location, such that each of the respective output coupling deflection structures parallelizes the light beams for capture by the image capturing unit.

21 . The camera device as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the image capturing unit includes a color image sensor configured to capture the light coupled out by the respective output coupling deflection structures among the at least two output coupling deflection structures.

22 . A camera device, comprising:
a light guiding medium; an input coupling region disposed at a first surface on a first side of the light guiding medium, the input coupling region including at least two input coupling deflection structures, each of which is configured to couple into the light guiding medium light in a predefined spectral range, the light being incident on respective input coupling deflection structures among the at least two input coupling deflection structures from a respectively predefined angle-of-incidence region among angle-of-incidence regions, from surroundings of the camera device, wherein the at least two input coupling deflection structures are selective vis a vis different spectral ranges and the angle-of-incidence regions; and an image capturing unit disposed at a second surface on a second side of the light guiding medium, opposite of the first side, the image capturing unit including at least two capture regions, each of which is configured to capture the light in the predefined spectral range coupled in by a respective input coupling deflection structure among the at least two input coupling deflection structures, the light being incident on a respective capture region among the at least two capture regions, separately according to the angle-of-incidence regions, and the image capturing unit being configured to generate image data based on the light captured by the at least two capture regions, wherein the light guiding medium is configured to transmit the light coupled in by the respective input coupling deflection structures from the input coupling region to the image capturing unit.

23 . A motor vehicle, comprising:
a window pane; and a camera device, including:
a light guiding medium configured as an optical waveguide;
an input coupling region disposed at the light guiding medium, the input coupling region including at least two input coupling deflection structures, each of which is configured to couple into the light guiding medium light in a predefined spectral range, the light being incident on respective input coupling deflection structures among the at least two input coupling deflection structures from a respectively predefined angle-of-incidence region among angle-of-incidence regions from surroundings of the camera device, where

Assignees

• Audi Ag

Inventors

• Moll Tobias

Classifications

• H04N23/55

  Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof · CPC title

• H04N23/45 Primary

  for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images · CPC title

• H04N23/698 Primary

  for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture · CPC title

• G02B13/06 Primary

  Panoramic objectives; So-called "sky lenses" {including panoramic objectives having reflecting surfaces} · CPC title

• G02B6/0011

  the light guides being planar or of plate-like form · CPC title