JP2005341301A - Double eye imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a double eye imaging device capable of ensuring a visual field for each eye without making an imaging element large in size or reduced in the degree of freedom of imaging. <P>SOLUTION: Respective eyes are composed of a front group 3 and a rear group 4, any one of the front group 3 and the rear group 4 is defined as a lens group having a positive refraction power and the other group is defined as a lens group having a negative refraction power. For each telescope eye P1 and each middle telescope eye P2, the lens group having the positive refraction power is disposed in the front group and the lens group having the negative refraction power is disposed in the rear group so that a length of each eye is shortened. For each wide angle eye P3, the lens group having the negative refraction power is disposed in the front group and the lens group having the positive refraction power is disposed in the rear group, so that a length of each eye is extended. Thus, the eyes are positioned closer to each other in the direction of optical axis on a first plane. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a compound eye imaging apparatus in which a plurality of individual eyes are arranged in parallel with each other.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a compound-eye imaging device in which a plurality of individual eyes are arranged in parallel with each other is known.

In Patent Document 1 below, a plurality of lenses having different focal lengths are arranged in parallel to capture a wide range with a monitoring camera or the like and increase the resolution of the central portion, and photographing the peripheral portion from the central portion. A technique for increasing the area is disclosed.
JP 2002-171447 A

  By the way, in general, the length of the lens increases in the optical axis direction as the focal length increases. Therefore, in a compound eye imaging device, when each eye is composed of a single lens having a different focal length, the presence of a lens having a larger focal length is caused by the presence of a lens having a larger focal length. It may block the field of view of the lens with the smaller distance.

  As a method for preventing the occurrence of such a problem, for example, a method of increasing the distance between adjacent lenses (single eyes), a field of view of a lens having a smaller focal length, or a light flux that passes through the lens. A method of reducing the transmission aperture diameter (opening diameter) when transmitting is conceivable.

  However, the former method that increases the distance between adjacent lenses (single eyes) leads to an increase in the size of the image sensor, and the latter method such as limiting the field of view of the lens with the smaller focal length in advance. In the method, since the amount of light on the imaging surface is reduced, the degree of freedom of photographing (the limit of darkness that can be photographed) is reduced particularly in a dark environment.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a compound-eye imaging device that can secure the field of view of each individual eye without causing an increase in the size of the imaging element, a reduction in the degree of freedom of imaging, or the like. Objective.

  The invention according to claim 1 includes an imaging unit that captures an optical image of a subject, and a single eye to form an optical image of the subject in each of divided areas obtained by dividing the imaging region of the imaging unit into a plurality of areas. Are arranged in parallel with each other, and at least one of the plurality of eyes has a first optical system having a positive refractive power and a second having a negative refractive power. And an optical system.

The invention according to claim 2 is the compound-eye imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when focusing on two adjacent single eyes having different focal lengths, the position of the single eye with the smaller focal length is located closest to the object side. When the distance from the objective side surface of the lens to the imaging surface to the imaging surface is Da, and the distance from the objective side surface of the lens located closest to the objective side to the imaging surface in the single eye with the larger focal length is represented as Db, the distance Da and Db satisfy the following formula (1).
Db <Da + (Yc−Ha1) × (fa / Yc) (1)
However, Yc is the shortest distance from the center of the divided area corresponding to the individual eye with the smaller focal distance to the boundary with the divided area adjacent to the area, and Ha1 is adjacent to the individual eye with the smaller focal distance. Assuming that there is no single eye, the shortest distance between the position at which the outermost light ray that passes through the single eye enters the lens located on the most objective side of the single eye and the optical axis of the single eye The distance, θ is an angle formed by the outermost light beam and the optical axis of the individual eye. The invention according to claim 3, wherein the subject is at infinity when the subject is at infinity. (1) is characterized in that it can be replaced by the following formula (2).
Db <Da + (Yc−Ha1) × (fa / Yc) (2)
Where fa is the focal length of the individual eye with the smaller focal length.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the compound eye imaging device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the focal lengths f1 and f2 of the first and second optical systems and the first and second optical systems. The relationship between the principal point distance d and the first optical system satisfies the following formula (3) when one direction along the optical axis is positive with respect to the first and second optical systems.
-2 <(f1 + f2) / d <2 (3)

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the compound-eye imaging device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the first and second optical systems are each composed of one lens. .

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least one of the plurality of eyes includes a first optical system having a positive refractive power and a second optical system having a negative refractive power. Since it is configured, it has been shortened for a single eye that has been relatively long in the past, or conversely, it has been lengthened for a single eye that has been relatively short in the past, The position of the lens on the most objective side of each individual eye can be made closer to the optical axis direction. As a result, it is possible to prevent or suppress blocking of the field of view of adjacent single eyes without causing an increase in the size of the image sensor or a reduction in the degree of freedom in photographing.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, by setting the distances Da and Db so as to satisfy the formula (2), the visual field of the single eye having the larger focal length is smaller than that of the individual eye having the smaller focal length. Can be reliably prevented.

  At that time, as in the third aspect of the invention, when the subject is at infinity, the equation (1) can be replaced with Db <Da + (Yc−Ha1) × (fa / Yc).

  As in the fourth aspect of the invention, the relationship between the focal lengths f1 and f2 of the first and second optical systems and the distance d between the principal points of the first and second optical systems is as follows. Each optical system may be designed to satisfy −2 <(f1 + f2) / d <2 when one direction along the optical axis is positive with respect to the second optical system.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, each of the first and second optical systems is composed of one lens, so that the configuration of the compound-eye imaging device is relatively simple, and the size and cost of the compound-eye imaging device are increased. Up is suppressed.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a compound eye imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the compound-eye imaging device 1 includes an imaging device 2, a front group 3, a rear group 4, a partition wall 5, a spectral filter 6, and an image processing unit 7.

  The image pickup device 2 is a CCD, CMOS, or the like in which the image pickup unit 2a (pixel) is two-dimensionally arranged, and outputs the obtained image signal to the outside for each pixel. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an imaging region (imaging surface) of the imaging device 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the imaging device 2 has an imaging region virtually divided equally in a matrix (in this embodiment, vertical and horizontal 3 × 3). Hereinafter, the divided imaging regions are referred to as divided imaging regions S1 to S9.

  As will be described later, in the present embodiment, one set of the front group 3 and the rear group 4 is associated with each of the divided imaging areas S1 to S9, and each of the divided imaging areas S1 to S9 is associated with each of the divided imaging areas S1 to S9. The corresponding front group 3 and rear group 4 form an optical image of the subject.

  The front group 3 and the rear group 4 are composed of, for example, a plurality of optical elements such as a glass lens, a resin lens, a diffraction grating, and a liquid crystal lens, and one optical element of the front group 3 corresponds to each divided imaging region S1 to S9. The element (lens) and one optical element (lens) of the rear group 4 are configured to face each other (optical system is configured). Hereinafter, a configuration including a set of the front group 3 and the rear group 4 for forming an optical image of a subject in each of the divided imaging regions S1 to S9 is referred to as a single eye. In the present embodiment, the case where each individual eye is provided with a plurality of lenses is illustrated, and the front group 3 and the rear group 4 are integrally molded lenses (see FIG. 6). The case where all the single eyes are comprised with the same material is illustrated. In the present embodiment, the front group 3 and the rear group 4 of each individual eye are each configured with one lens in order to simplify the configuration of the compound-eye imaging device 1, but are configured with a plurality of lenses. May be.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each individual eye is arranged so that the optical axis substantially coincides with the normal line when considering normal lines passing through the centers of the divided imaging regions S <b> 1 to S <b> 9. In this embodiment, in order to obtain a plurality of types of images with different magnifications (wide-angle images and high-resolution images), the focal lengths of the individual eyes are not all the same, but are different in units of several. Yes.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of single eyes arranged in the horizontal direction have the same focal length. In addition, the plurality of single eyes arranged in the vertical direction have different focal lengths, and the single eye located in the uppermost row has the largest focal length (hereinafter referred to as a telephoto single eye) and is located in the lowermost row. The eye has the shortest focal length (hereinafter referred to as a wide-angle single eye), and the single eye located in the center row has an intermediate focal length between the telephoto single eye and the wide-angle single eye. In FIG. 2, this is represented by “T” for telephoto “Tele”, “M” for medium telephoto “Middle”, and “W” for wide-angle “Wide”. In the present embodiment, the front group 3 and the rear group 4 of each individual eye are supported by the partition wall 5 so that the front group 3 is located at the end of the partition wall 5.

  The partition wall 5 functions as a hood so that the light transmitted through each individual eye reaches only one imaging region and blocks the incidence of light passing through the other individual eyes.

  The partition walls 5 are formed in a lattice shape, and are disposed between the image sensor 2 and the individual eyes. The partition wall 5 is formed by, for example, forming a hole for allowing light transmitted through each eye to pass through a metal plate (for example, a stainless steel plate) having a thickness of 200 μm by laser processing or molding it using a photo-curing resin. Consists of. The partition wall 5 is formed to have a thickness of 20 μm, for example, and the four inner peripheral surfaces of the lattice of the partition wall 5 are painted in black so as not to reflect light.

  The spectral filter 6 separates light from the subject into light of different wavelengths (in this embodiment, R (red), G (green), and B (blue)). As shown in FIG. Spectral filters having the same light transmission characteristics are inserted into a plurality of divided imaging regions arranged in the direction, and light of different wavelengths (R (red), G ( Spectral filters having different light transmission characteristics are inserted so as to guide green) and B (blue)).

  This spectral filter can be either a dye using a dye or an interference principle. Further, the transmission color of the spectral filter 6 is not limited to primary colors of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) as long as it can combine and synthesize a color image. Cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow) complementary colors may be used.

  The image processing unit 7 has a central processing unit (CPU) as a central processing unit, and performs predetermined image processing based on pixel signals obtained by the photoelectric conversion action of the image sensor 2.

  Next, the characteristic part in the compound eye imaging device 1 of this embodiment is demonstrated.

  In the present embodiment, it has been described above that each individual eye is configured by the front group 3 and the rear group 4. However, if this individual eye is configured by one lens (single unit), a single eye having a large focal length. It becomes longer in the optical axis direction. For this reason, the presence of a single eye with a large focal length may enter the field of view of a single eye with a small focal length and hinder the visual field.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the presence of a single eye with a large focal length obstructs the visual field of a single eye with a small focal length, and the single eye P1 for telephoto, the single eye P2 for medium telephoto, and the wide angle. The arrangement | positioning state of each lens at the time of comprising the individual eye P3 for 1 temporarily with one lens is shown. If the front end of the telephoto eye is located at, for example, the position R1 shown in FIG. 3, the front end position R2 of the medium telephoto eye is located closer to the image sensor 2 than the front end position R1 of the telephoto eye. The wide-angle single-eye front end position R3 is positioned closer to the image sensor 2 than the front-end position R2 of the medium telephoto single-eye.

  When the visual field of each individual eye P1 to P3 is represented by φ1 to φ3, the length of the telephoto individual eye P1 is longer than that of the medium telephoto individual eye P2. The presence of the telephoto individual eye P1 enters the field of view φ2, and the length of the medium telephoto individual eye P2 is longer than that of the wide-angle individual eye P3. The presence of the medium telephoto eye P2 enters φ3, and the visual fields of the medium telephoto and wide-angle eye P2 and P3 are obstructed by the adjacent eyes having a larger focal length.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to eliminate or suppress such a problem, the length of the individual eye is obtained by appropriately combining a lens group having a positive refractive power and a lens group having a negative refractive power. Since the distance from the subject side surface (hereinafter referred to as the first surface) to the imaging surface can be changed, each individual eye is composed of a front group 3 and a rear group 4, as shown in FIG. One of the front group 3 and the rear group 4 is a lens group having a positive refractive power, and the other is a lens group having a negative refractive power.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, for the telephoto single eye P1 and the medium telephoto single eye P2, a lens group having a positive refractive power is provided in the front group, and a negative refractive power is provided in the rear group. The lens group which has is arrange | positioned. Specifically, the telephoto single eye P1 includes a plano-concave lens P11 in the front group and a biconcave lens P12 in the rear group, and the middle telephoto eye P2 has a positive meniscus lens P21 in the front group. The negative meniscus lens P22 is disposed in the rear group.

  As a result, the length of the single eye can be shortened for the single eye P1 for telephoto and the single eye P2 for medium telephoto. For example, when the individual eye P1 is configured with one lens for the telephoto individual eye P1, the length of the individual eye is approximated to the distance from the imaging surface to the first surface for simplicity of explanation. When the length of the individual eye P1 is expressed as L as shown in FIG. 4B, a lens group having a positive refractive power in the front group and a lens group having a negative refractive power in the rear group as described above. By arranging, the length of the individual eye P1 can be set to L ′ (<L) as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, for the wide-angle individual eye P3, a lens group having negative refractive power is arranged in the front group, and a lens group having positive refractive power is arranged in the rear group. Specifically, a negative meniscus lens P31 is disposed in the front group and a biconvex lens P32 is disposed in the rear group in the wide-angle individual eye P3.

  Thereby, in the single eye P3 for wide angles, the length of a single eye can be lengthened.

  As a result, the positions in the optical axis direction of the first surface in each individual eye are close to each other, and the middle telephoto individual eye P2 is prevented or suppressed from being obstructed by the presence of the telephoto individual eye P1. In addition, the wide-angle single eye P3 can be prevented or suppressed from being blocked by the presence of the medium telephoto single eye P2.

  Next, in FIG. 2, a condition is obtained in which the field of view is not obstructed by the presence of individual eyes adjacent in the vertical direction. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a method for deriving this condition.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lenses a and b (the lens b is a single-lens lens having a larger focal length) are the lenses positioned closest to the subject in each adjacent eye, and each lens a and b The distance from the position of the first surface to the imaging surface is Da, Db, a single eye configured to include the lens a (hereinafter referred to as a focused single eye), and a single eye configured to include the lens b (hereinafter referred to as the single eye). The boundary surface with the adjacent single eye is denoted by M. Further, when it is assumed that there is no single eye adjacent to the single eye having a smaller focal length, the point A is the outermost light ray (hereinafter referred to as a noticed light ray) among the light rays passing through the single eye. B is a position that is incident on the lens a located closest to the objective side in the eye, and the target ray before entering the lens a intersects the boundary surface M (referred to as an intersection B), and their intersection angle. Is represented by θ ₁ (equal to the angle formed between the light beam of interest before entering the lens a and the optical axis Lb).

  If the intersection B between the target ray and the boundary surface M before entering the lens a is located before the position of the first surface of the lens b in the adjacent single eye, the target individual is present due to the presence of the adjacent single eye. It is thought that the visual field of the eye is not obstructed.

Therefore, if the focal distance of the focused individual eye is represented by fa, the image height is represented by Yc, and the shortest distance between the point B and the optical axis Lb of the focused individual eye is represented by Ha1, a perpendicular line from the intersection B to the boundary surface M is obtained from FIG. Since the length is (Yc−Ha1), the distance x from the intersection H of the perpendicular and the boundary surface M to the intersection B is
From (Yc−Ha1) = x · tan θ ₁
x = (Yc−Ha1) × (1 / tan θ ₁ ) (4)
It becomes.

On the other hand, the image height Yc is an angle θ ₂ formed by a light beam passing through the intersection of the optical axis Lb of the target individual eye and the front surface of the lens a among the light beams emitted from the same point as the target light beam. Since it can be expressed as Yc = fa · tan θ ₂ using the focal length fa,
tan θ ₂ = Yc / fa (5)
Then, when the subject is at infinity, the incident angle θ ₁ ≈θ ₂ , so that the equation (4) is expressed by the equation (5).
x = (Yc−Ha1) × (fa / Yc) (4 ′)
Can be substituted.

Therefore, the distance Z from the imaging surface to the intersection B is
Z = Da + (Yc−Ha1) × (fa / Yc) (6)
Since the intersection point B only needs to be positioned before the position of the front surface of the lens b of the adjacent single eye,
Db <Da + (Yc−Ha1) × (fa / Yc) (7)
It becomes.

  Further, when the diaphragm is disposed on the subject side in the optical axis direction with respect to the lenses a and b, the expression (7) is expressed by the following expression (8) when the F number of the focused individual eye is expressed as FNoa. (9) can be substituted.

FNoa = fa / 2Ha1 (8)
Db <Da + (Yc−fa / 2FNoa) × (fa / Yc) (9)
Therefore, by designing the lens so as to satisfy the formula (7) or (9), it is possible to prevent the adjacent single eye from blocking the visual field of the target single eye.

  As described above, each eye is composed of the front group 3 and the rear group 4, and one of the front group 3 and the rear group 4 is a lens group having a positive refractive power, and the other is a negative refraction. As a lens group having power, by making the position in the optical axis direction closer to the lens of at least the front group of each individual eye, the adjacent single eye without causing an increase in the size of the image pickup device or a decrease in the degree of freedom in photographing. Can prevent or suppress the obstruction of the visual field.

  Further, by designing the lens so that the relationship between the target single eye and the adjacent single eye satisfies the above formula (7) or formula (9), it is ensured that the adjacent single eye blocks the visual field of the target single eye. Can be prevented.

  Furthermore, by configuring at least the front lens group of each individual eye so that the positions in the optical axis direction are close to each other, there are the following advantages.

  That is, it is assumed that each front group or each rear group is integrally formed by configuring each front group of each individual eye with the same material or configuring each rear group with the same material. At this time, in the configuration shown in FIG. 3, for each individual eye P <b> 1 to P <b> 3 configured by one lens, the adjacent individual eyes are not overlapped in the optical axis direction, and the focal length is Since the projection amount in the optical axis direction of a large individual eye is greatly different, it is difficult to integrally mold these lenses. However, as in this embodiment, the front group and the rear group of each individual eye are adjacent to each other in the optical axis direction. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, it is relatively easy to integrally mold each front group 3 and each rear group 4. As a result, it is possible to improve moldability, reduce the number of parts, and reduce costs.

  In addition to the said embodiment, it can replace with the said embodiment and the deformation | transformation form demonstrated to the following form (1)-(6) is also employable for this invention.

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, for the telephoto single eye P1 and the medium telephoto single eye P2, the front lens group has a positive refractive power, and the rear lens group has a negative refractive power. In the wide-angle individual eye P3, a lens group having a negative refractive power is arranged in the front group, and a lens group having a positive refractive power is arranged in the rear group, but as shown in FIG. For example, when focusing on the relationship between the telephoto individual eye P1 and the medium telephoto individual eye P2, with respect to the telephoto individual eye P1, a lens group having a positive refractive power in the front group as described above is used. By simply disposing a lens group having negative refractive power in the rear group, the positions of the subject-side surfaces in the optical axis direction of each individual eye are close to each other, and the field of view of the middle telephoto individual eye P2 can be secured. If so, the middle telephoto eye P2 need not be composed of lenses having different refractive powers. . FIG. 7 shows that the front group of the telephoto eye P1 and the middle telephoto eye P2 are close to each other in the optical axis direction, so that it becomes easy to integrally mold them. Shows what you did.

(2) The relationship between the focal lengths f1 and f2 of the front group and the rear group of each individual eye P1 to P3 (one direction in the optical axis direction is positive) and the distance d between principal points of the front group and the rear group are as follows. It is preferable to satisfy Expression (10).
-2 <(f1 + f2) / d <2 (10)

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the front group 3 and the rear group 4 of each eye are configured to be supported by the partition wall 5. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the front group 3 and the rear group 4 are integrally molded, FIG. A configuration as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view showing the support structure of the front group 3 and the rear group 4 that are integrally molded, and FIG. 8B is a view when viewed from the direction of arrow B in FIG. It is a figure which shows the shape of the partition 5. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, in the present embodiment, a holding member 8 is separately provided to support the integrally formed front group 3 and rear group 4, and the holding member 8 is made of, for example, aluminum. It is a member formed into a cylindrical shape having a square cross section when processed from the direction of arrow B after processing the material. The inner peripheral surface at one end of the holding member 8 is formed so that the opening gradually increases toward the end, and the front group 3 is formed on the contact surface 8a and the rear group is formed on the contact surface 8b. The front group 3 and the rear group 4 are bonded to the inner peripheral surface of the holding member 8 with an adhesive such as an ultraviolet curable resin in a state where the 4 is in contact. Thereby, the space | interval of the front group 3, the rear group 4, and the image pick-up surface of the image pick-up element 2 can be set appropriately. Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, the partition wall 5 is formed in a “well” shape, and is between the front group 3 and the rear group 4 and between the rear group 4 and the image sensor 2. Arranged.

  With such a configuration, the front group 3 and the rear group 4 can be reliably held at appropriate positions.

  (4) When the front group 3 of each individual eye is integrally molded with resin, the holding member 8 described in the modified embodiment (3) can be integrally molded with the front group 3 as shown in FIG. In this manner, by integrally molding the holding member 8 and the front group 3, it is possible to further reduce the number of parts.

  (5) In the above embodiment, all the front groups 3 and all the rear groups 4 are integrally molded. However, all of the front group 3 or the rear group 4 may be integrally molded. . Further, in the front group 3 of each individual eye, only at least one set of adjacent front groups arranged in the vicinity in the optical axis direction may be integrally formed, or in the rear group 4 of each individual eye. Only at least one set of adjacent rear groups arranged in the vicinity in the optical axis direction may be integrally formed.

  (6) In the above-described embodiment, the imaging area of the imaging device 2 is equally divided into a 3 × 3 matrix, and one set of the front group 3 and the rear group 4 is associated with each of the divided imaging areas S1 to S9. In addition, for a plurality of single eyes arranged in the horizontal direction, the focal lengths are all the same, for a plurality of single eyes arranged in the vertical direction, the focal lengths are different from each other, and for a plurality of divided imaging regions arranged in the vertical direction. In this case, spectral filters having the same light transmission characteristics are inserted, and light of different wavelengths (R (red), G (green), B (blue)) is guided to a plurality of divided imaging regions arranged in the horizontal direction. As described above, the spectral filters having different light transmission characteristics are inserted. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as in the above-described embodiment, by using a technique for bringing the position of at least the front lens group of each individual eye closer to the optical axis direction , Enlarge the image sensor 2 It can be achieved without the following configuration can.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another division form of the imaging region.

  In FIG. 10, the imaging area of the imaging device 2 is divided into four blocks B1 to B4 of 2 × 2 in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the imaging area of each block B1 to B4 is further equally divided into a matrix of 2 × 2 in the vertical and horizontal directions. Then, a set of front group 3 and rear group 4 is associated with each imaging region, and the focal length of a single eye is set to a value specific to the block. That is, the focal lengths of the individual eyes are made different between the blocks, and the focal lengths are made the same between the divided imaging regions in the same block (for example, the focal lengths of the individual eyes corresponding to the divided imaging regions belonging to the block B1 are all f1. The focal lengths of the single eyes corresponding to the divided imaging regions belonging to the block B2 are all f2).

  Further, in each block, spectral filters having different light transmission characteristics for guiding light of different wavelengths (for example, R (red), G (green), and B (blue)) are arranged in a Bayer array. For example, “f1 G” in the drawing indicates that the focal length of the single eye provided for the divided imaging region is f1, and a G (green) spectral filter is provided for the divided imaging region. Indicates that A color image having a focal length corresponding to each block can be generated using image data captured in the imaging area of each block.

It is a figure which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the compound-eye imaging device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of each individual eye. It is a figure which shows the state which presence of the single eye with a large focal distance has inhibited the visual field of the single eye with a small focal distance. It is a figure which shows the structure of the optical system which comprises each individual eye. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the derivation | leading-out method of the conditions in which a visual field is not obstruct | occluded by presence of the single eye | texture | solid adjoining in the up-down direction in FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure at the time of integrally molding a front group and a rear group. It is a figure which shows the other example of the integral molding pattern of an optical system (lens). (A) is sectional drawing which shows the support structure of the front group and rear group which were integrally molded, (b) is a figure which shows shapes, such as a partition when it sees from the direction of arrow B of (a). is there. It is a figure which shows the other example of the integral molding pattern of an optical system (lens). It is a figure which shows the other division form of an imaging region.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Compound eye imaging device 2 Imaging element 3 Front group 4 Rear group 5 Bulkhead 8 Holding member S1-S9 Division | segmentation imaging region P1-P3 Individual eye B1-B4 block for telephoto use, medium telephoto use, and wide angle

Claims (5)

A compound eye that includes an imaging unit that captures an optical image of a subject, and in which individual eyes are arranged in parallel to form an optical image of the subject in each of divided areas obtained by dividing the imaging region of the imaging unit into a plurality of areas An imaging device,
At least one eye among the plurality of eyes has a first optical system having a positive refractive power and a second optical system having a negative refractive power. A compound eye imaging device. When focusing on two adjacent single eyes having different focal lengths, Da is the distance from the objective side surface of the lens located closest to the objective side to the imaging surface in the single eye with the smaller focal length, and the focal length is large. The distance Da, Db satisfies the following formula (1) when the distance from the objective side surface of the lens located closest to the objective side to the imaging surface in one eye is expressed as Db. The compound eye imaging device described.
Db <Da + (Yc−Ha1) × (1 / tan θ) (1)
However, Yc is the shortest distance from the center of the divided area corresponding to the individual eye with the smaller focal distance to the boundary with the divided area adjacent to the area, and Ha1 is adjacent to the individual eye with the smaller focal distance. Assuming that there is no single eye, the shortest distance between the position at which the outermost light ray that passes through the single eye enters the lens located on the most objective side of the single eye and the optical axis of the single eye The distance, θ, is the angle between the outermost ray and the optical axis of the individual eye The compound eye imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the subject is at infinity, the expression (1) can be replaced with the following expression (2).
Db <Da + (Yc−Ha1) × (fa / Yc) (2)
Where fa is the focal length of the individual eye with the smaller focal length. The relationship between the focal lengths f1 and f2 of the first and second optical systems and the distance d between principal points of the first and second optical systems is on the optical axis with respect to the first and second optical systems. The compound eye imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the following formula (3) is satisfied when one direction along the direction is positive.
-2 <(f1 + f2) / d <2 (3)   5. The compound eye imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second optical systems includes one lens.

Images