Lens with an extended range of focus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9703018-B2
Application number	US-201214118539-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2012
Priority date	May 18, 2011
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

The invention relates to a lens which has an extended range of focus, wherein the lens consists of a solid material, the optical surfaces of the lens are transparent and the lens has a focal power distribution. According to the invention, the focal power distribution F G of the lens ( 1 ), in relation to a plane perpendicular to the optical axis ( 10 ), changes as a function of the radial height r and of the azimuth angle phi of the aperture between a base value of the focal power F L not equal to zero and a maximum value F Smax . Hence, the focal power distribution emerges as

F G ( r ,phi)= F L +F S ( r ,phi),

with the spiral focal power component

F S ( r ,phi)= F Smax ( r )* w (phi),

where F Smax (r) depends nonlinearly on the radius and w(phi) is a factor for the focal power component with a spiral profile.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A lens with an extended range of focus, wherein the lens consists of a solid, transparent material and has two manufactured optical surfaces, wherein the lens has a focal power distribution F G , characterized in that
the focal power distribution F G of the lens, in relation to a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, changes as a function of the radial height r and of the azimuth angle phi of the aperture between a base value of the focal power F L not equal to zero and a maximum value F Smax and hence results in the focal power distribution
F G ( r ,phi)= F L +F S ( r ,phi),

with a spiral focal power component
F S ( r ,phi)= F Smax ( r ,phi)* w (phi),
where F Smax (r) depends nonlinearly on the radius and w(phi) is a factor for the focal power component with the spiral profile, which, in general, is described by the formula

w
⁡

(
phi
)

=

∑

i
=
1

N

⁢

I
i

⁢

exp
⁡

[

-

a
i

⁡

(

phi
-

w
i

)

2

]

,

and w i are the peak positions in the angular distribution function; I i are intensity values of the individual peaks; a i >0 are damping coefficients for the respective peak positions and i is a counter and M≧i is a final value.

2. A lens with an extended range of focus, wherein the lens consists of a solid, transparent material and has two manufactured optical surfaces, wherein the lens has a focal power distribution F G , characterized in that
the focal power distribution F G of the lens, in relation to a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, changes as a function of the radial height r and of the azimuth angle phi of the aperture between a base value of the focal power F L not equal to zero and a maximum value F Smax and hence results in the focal power distribution
F G ( r ,phi)= F L +F S ( r ,phi),

with a spiral focal power component
F S ( r ,phi)= F Smax ( r ,phi)* w (phi),
where F Smax (r) depends nonlinearly on the radius and w(phi) is a factor for the focal power component with the spiral profile, which is described as a linear profile by the formula

w
⁡

(
phi
)

=

phi

2
⁢
π

.

3. The lens as claimed in claim 1 or as claimed in claim 2 , characterized in that the maximum focal power F Smax (r) depends nonlinearly on the radius and is described by the polynomial formulae

F

S
⁢

⁢
ma
⁢

⁢
x

⁡

(
r
)

=

∑

j
=
2

N

⁢

c
j

*

r
j

⁢

⁢
or
⁢

⁢

F

S
⁢

⁢
ma
⁢

⁢
x

⁡

(
r
)

=

∑

j
=
1

N

⁢

c
j

*

r

2
*
j

,

with the polynomial coefficients c j for a refractive focal power and

F

Assignees

• Dobschal Hans-Jürgen
• Zeiss Carl Ag

Inventors

• Dobschal Hans-Jürgen

Classifications

• G02C7/061

  Spectacle lenses with progressively varying focal power · CPC title

• G02C2202/20

  Diffractive and Fresnel lenses or lens portions · CPC title

• G02B3/10 Primary

  Bifocal lenses; Multifocal lenses · CPC title

• G02C7/024

  Methods of designing ophthalmic lenses · CPC title

• G02B27/0075 Primary

  with means for altering, e.g. increasing, the depth of field or depth of focus · CPC title