JP2001223931A - Image pickup device and image system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup device that can obtain a high definition image with a comparatively simple configuration and to provide a image system using the image pickup device. SOLUTION: The image pickup device is provided with a primary image forming lens 11 that forms the image of an object 10, a diffusion plate 12 placed on an image forming face of the primary image forming lens 11, secondary image forming lenses 13a-13b that form the image formed on the diffusion plate 12 by the primary image forming lens 11, and image pickup elements 14a-14b placed on image forming faces of the secondary image forming lenses 13a-13b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus and an image system using the same, and more particularly to an image pickup apparatus for picking up an image of a subject by a plurality of image pickup devices and an image system using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an apparatus for picking up an image of a subject using a plurality of image pickup devices, there is an apparatus described in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 5-2033. In the method described in this publication, an incident light beam from a subject is split into a plurality of light beams by a half prism, an image sensor is arranged in an optical path of each split light beam, and a signal obtained from each image sensor is synthesized. Thus, one high-definition image is obtained.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned prior art requires a special optical member for splitting an incident light beam into a plurality of light beams and entering each of the image pickup devices.
There was a problem that the cost would be high. Also,
In the above-described conventional technology, it is necessary to adjust the positional relationship between the image pickup devices with an accuracy equal to or less than the pixel pitch, and there is a problem that manufacturing is difficult.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide an image pickup apparatus capable of obtaining a high-definition image with a relatively simple configuration and an image system using the same. And

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an imaging apparatus comprising: a primary imaging lens for imaging an image of a subject; a diffusion plate disposed on an imaging surface of the primary imaging lens; A plurality of secondary imaging lenses that form an image formed on the diffusion plate by an image lens, and a plurality of imaging devices arranged on an imaging surface of the plurality of secondary imaging lenses. Features.

In the image pickup apparatus, it is preferable that a part of each image of the subject formed on each of the image pickup devices is configured to overlap each other.

An image system according to the present invention includes a primary imaging lens for imaging an image of a subject, a diffusion plate disposed on an imaging surface of the primary imaging lens, and the diffusion plate provided by the primary imaging lens. A plurality of secondary imaging lenses that form an image formed on the plurality of secondary imaging lenses, and a plurality of imaging devices arranged on the imaging surface of the plurality of secondary imaging lenses. An imaging device configured so that a part of each image of a subject to be overlapped with each other, and a synthesizing device that synthesizes a plurality of images captured by the imaging device at the same timing to obtain one image. It is characterized by the following.

In the above image pickup apparatus and image system,
It is preferable that the diffusion plate is configured to reduce a decrease in the amount of light in the peripheral portion.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration example of a main part of an image pickup apparatus according to the present invention.

An image of the subject 10 is formed on a diffusion plate 12 arranged on an image forming plane of a primary image forming lens 11. The diffusion plate 12 has a function of transmitting light to some extent and forming an image of a subject on an image forming surface, and is configured using, for example, ground glass or a microlens array.

The image of the subject formed on the diffuser plate 12 is divided into a plurality of images by a plurality of secondary imaging lenses 13a to 13d, and a plurality of images are arranged on each imaging surface of the secondary imaging lenses 13a to 13d. An image is formed on imaging elements (CCD or the like) 14a to 14d. In the example shown in the figure, the image of the subject is divided into four, that is, four secondary imaging lenses and four imaging elements are provided. However, the number of divisions may be two or more.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an image forming range of each image of a subject divided and formed on each of the image pickup devices 14a to 14d. As shown in this figure, each imaging range (imaging area) 15
a to 15d overlap each other at adjacent portions.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image system using an image pickup apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG.

Each of the image pickup devices 14a to 14d is driven at the same timing, and signals obtained by each of the image pickup devices 14a to 14d are respectively output to camera signal processing circuits 16a to 16d.
6d. In the camera signal processing circuits 16a to 16d, signal processing similar to that of a normal digital camera is performed.

Outputs of the camera signal processing circuits 16a to 16d are input to a synthesis processing circuit 17. In the synthesis processing circuit 17, the camera signal processing circuits 16a to 16a-1
Various correction processes (signals, such as correction of the displacement of the image sensor, correction of the rotation angle, and correction of the distortion caused by the lens aberration, are performed based on the information of the imaging regions overlapping each other using the signal from the 6d. Process) is performed, and an image of a predetermined size having regions overlapping each other is cut out. Weighted addition is performed on the overlap region of the image cut out in this way, and one high-definition image is obtained.

The output of the synthesizing circuit 17 can be supplied to various devices, and the obtained high-definition image may be displayed on a display 19 via a display circuit 18 or a printer interface ( I / F) 2
0 may be printed out to the printer 21. Further, the synthesizing processing circuit 17 has a function of recording the outputs of the camera signal processing circuits 16a to 16d as they are to the HDD 23 via the hard disk drive interface (HDD I / F) 22. At the time of reproduction, the signal read from the HDD 23 is
7 and display 19 as described above.
Alternatively, it can be output to the printer 21.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the imaging elements 14a to 14d are formed by using the primary imaging lens 11, the diffusion plate 12, and the secondary imaging lenses 13a to 13d configured as described above.
Since the image of the subject is formed on 14d, a special optical member or the like as in the related art is not required, and a high-definition image can be obtained with a relatively simple configuration.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the imaging regions overlap each other, the correction is performed using the information of the overlap region, so that high-precision alignment is not required, and the manufacturing is facilitated. . Further, since the respective image sensors 14a to 14d are driven at the same timing, that is, the images of the respective subjects are captured at the same timing, the synchronism is secured, and the photographing of the moving subject can be reliably performed. .

When the incident angle of the light beam incident on the diffusion plate 12 is different between the central portion and the peripheral portion, the light amount in the peripheral portion is relatively reduced. May become dark. Therefore, the diffusion plate 12 may be configured to reduce the decrease in the amount of light in the peripheral portion with respect to the central portion. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a diffusion plate having such a function.

The diffuser plate shown in FIG. 4 (partially enlarged) has a plurality of spherical lenses 12a arranged vertically and horizontally. The size of each ball lens 12a is several hundreds of microns in diameter.
m, and the gap between each ball lens 12a is
2b is provided. Although the incident angle of the light beam incident on the diffusion plate is different between the central portion and the peripheral portion, the provision of the plurality of spherical lenses 12a allows the light beam to be incident on the diffusion surface 12c in the vertical direction. Can be suppressed from decreasing.

It is also possible to use a convex lens or a Fresnel lens instead of a spherical lens to form a diffusion plate having the same function.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

[0024]

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a high-definition image with a relatively simple configuration without using a special optical member or the like. In addition, by partially overlapping the imaging regions (imaging ranges) of the plurality of imaging elements, high-accuracy alignment is not required, and manufacturing is facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration example of a main part of an imaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an image forming range of each image of a subject divided and formed on each image sensor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image system using an imaging device having the configuration shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view showing a modification of the diffusion plate shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Subject 11 ... Primary imaging lens 12 ... Diffusion plate 13a-13d ... Secondary imaging lens 14a-14d ... Imaging element 15a-15d ... Imaging range (imaging area) 16a-16d ... Camera signal processing circuit 17 ... Synthesis Processing circuit 18 Display circuit 19 Display 20 Printer I / F 21 Printer 22 HDD / I / F 23 HDD

Claims (5)

[Claims] A primary imaging lens for imaging an image of a subject; a diffusion plate disposed on an imaging surface of the primary imaging lens; and an image formed on the diffusion plate by the primary imaging lens. An imaging apparatus comprising: a plurality of secondary imaging lenses for forming an image; and a plurality of imaging elements arranged on an imaging surface of the plurality of secondary imaging lenses. 2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part of each image of the subject formed on each of said image pickup elements is configured to overlap each other. 3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diffusion plate is configured to reduce a decrease in light amount in a peripheral portion. 4. A primary imaging lens for forming an image of a subject,
A diffusing plate disposed on an imaging plane of the primary imaging lens; a plurality of secondary imaging lenses for forming an image formed on the diffusion plate by the primary imaging lens; and a plurality of the secondary imaging lenses. An image pickup apparatus having a plurality of image pickup devices arranged on an image forming surface of an image lens, wherein an image of a subject formed on each of the image pickup devices is partially overlapped with each other; An image system, comprising: a synthesizing device for synthesizing a plurality of images captured by the device at the same timing to obtain one image. 5. The image system according to claim 4, wherein said diffusion plate is configured to reduce a decrease in light amount in a peripheral portion.