JP2002271675A - Imaging unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a wide-range video image of the entire celestial sphere, by modifying an imaging unit that obtains a wide range video image of a half celestial sphere. SOLUTION: In the imaging unit, where a convex mirror 1 is made to face a CCD camera 12 having a macrolens 12a via a transparent cylinder 3, a CCD camera 11 is provided on the convex mirror 1 via a wide-angle lens 10 and a focus P of the convex mirror 1 is becomes identical with an NP-point Q of the wide angle lens 10 in order to prevent production of parallax.

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 more particularly to an image pickup apparatus for photographing a whole celestial sphere by improving the image pickup apparatus for photographing a celestial sphere.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An imaging device as shown in FIG. 5 has been proposed for obtaining a wide-range image in a semi-celestial sphere (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-174603).

In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a CCD camera, 6 denotes a ring plate having a window hole 7 corresponding to a lens of the CCD camera 2, 3 denotes a transparent tube, 5 denotes a support plate for closing the upper end of the transparent tube 3, and 1 denotes rotational symmetry. The convex mirror 4 having a body shape is a light shielding rod for preventing light reflected on the inner peripheral surface of the transparent tube 3 from entering the CCD camera 2 via the convex mirror 1.

In such an image pickup apparatus, light traveling from below the same plane as the support plate 5 to the convex mirror 1 is reflected by the convex mirror 1 and collected on the lens of the CCD camera 2, so that the hemisphere below the support plate 5 is mainly used. (Excluding the area that becomes a blind spot by the CCD camera 2). on the other hand,
As shown in FIG. 6, light a directly traveling from outside to the convex mirror 1
Unlike the above, the light b reflected on the inner peripheral surface of the transparent tube 3 and traveling toward the convex mirror 1 always passes through the axial center position, so that the light b is cut off by the presence of the light-shielding rod 4. The light reflected on the inner peripheral surface does not enter the CCD camera 2. Therefore, it is possible to prevent images from being photographed repeatedly.

[0005]

However, such an imaging apparatus can only obtain a wide-range image of the hemisphere below the convex mirror 1 and cannot photograph the area above the convex mirror 1.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup apparatus which solves the above problem.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus comprising: a convex mirror; and an imaging unit disposed to face the convex mirror and located on the front side of the convex mirror. A first imaging unit for taking an image, a wide-angle lens disposed on the back side of the convex mirror, and a second imaging unit for taking an image of an object to be photographed on the back side of the convex mirror via the wide-angle lens, and images from the respective imaging units are provided. 3. An imaging apparatus for obtaining a wide-range image by pasting together images, wherein an image obtained by the first imaging unit and an image obtained by the second imaging unit are set so as to overlap with each other, and the imaging apparatus according to claim 2. Is characterized in that, in claim 1, the first and second image pickup means are constituted by an objective lens and an image pickup element, and the constitution of the image pickup apparatus according to claim 3 is that in claim 2, Second imaging means A principal ray passing through the Gaussian region is selected from principal rays passing through the center of the provided aperture, and a point intersecting the optical axis by extending a linear component in the object space of the principal ray is set as an NP point and an NP point is set. The center of the sphere is set as an NP point area, and the focal point of the convex mirror is set so as to be disposed in the NP point area of the wide-angle lens. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein a radius of the NP point region is approximately 20 mm.
The imaging device according to claim 5, wherein in the configuration of claim 4, a light-shielding rod that protrudes from the convex mirror toward the objective lens of the first imaging unit is provided,
A wiring connected to an image pickup device of the second image pickup means is housed inside the light shielding rod.

The NP point and the NP point area are defined below. FIG. 4 illustrates a state in which light reflected by a subject (not shown) reaches the imaging unit 301 via the equivalent convex lens 300 and forms an image on the imaging unit 301. The equivalent convex lens 300 includes lenses 302 to 308
And an aperture 309 is provided between the lens 304 and the lens 305. Among the innumerable chief rays passing through the center of the stop 309, a chief ray 311 whose lens aberration is negligible is selected through a Gaussian region near the optical axis 310, and a straight line in the object space 312 among the selected chief rays 311 is selected. A point where the component is extended and intersects with the optical axis 310 is defined as an NP (non-parallax) point 313, and the inside of a sphere having a radius of 20 mm or less centered on the NP point is defined as an NP point area 314. The reason why the NP point area is set in the sphere having a radius of 20 mm centered on the NP point is that the NP point area of any one of the imaging units is set within the sphere having a radius of 20 mm centered on the NP point.
This is because if the NP points are close to each other where the points are located, the occurrence of parallax can be suppressed to a negligible level. 315 is an image space.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, since a part of the conventional image pickup apparatus is improved, the same parts as those in the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. Only different parts will be described.

(A) First Embodiment First, a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown, a macro lens (objective lens) 12a and a C (not shown)
CCD camera (first imaging means) 12 having a CD imaging device
Is provided. The support plate 5 on the convex mirror 1 is removed, and a wide-angle lens 10 for photographing above the convex mirror 1 on the back side of the convex mirror 1, an objective lens (not shown) and a CC
CCD camera (second imaging means) 11 including D imaging element
Are provided on the convex mirror 1.

Here, while the angle of view of the convex mirror 1 is α,
The angle of view of the wide-angle lens 10 is β, and the images are set so that the images overlap each other at the portions indicated by dots. Further, the focal point P of the convex mirror 1 and the wide-angle lens
NP point Q is set to match.

In such an image pickup apparatus, a wide-range image having an angle of view α of 360 degrees can be obtained by the CCD camera 12 as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a wide-angle image of a substantially hemispherical ball with an angle of view β can be obtained. A wide-area image of a substantially celestial sphere excluding a portion (the central portion in FIG. 3A) can be obtained. Since the focal point P and the NP point Q are set to be the same point, parallax does not occur at a portion where images overlap each other.

(B) Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment is shown in FIG. This is a modification of the first embodiment.

The CCD camera 12 according to the first embodiment,
11 is connected to power supply and output wiring. Figure 1
Now, the wiring connected to the CCD camera 11 (not shown)
Are guided downward from the outside of the transparent tube 3. In the second embodiment, the light-shielding rod 4 is formed integrally and hollow with the convex mirror 1 as shown in FIG.
3 is the inside of the light shielding rod 4 and the hole 12b of the CCD camera 12.
And has been inserted.

In such an image pickup apparatus, C on the rear side of the convex mirror 1 is used.
Since the wiring 13 connected to the CD camera 11 is arranged in the light-shielding rod 4, there is no problem in taking a picture.

The other configuration and operation are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

In the embodiment, the case where the focal point of the convex mirror coincides with the NP point of the wide-angle lens has been described. However, if the focal point of the convex mirror is arranged in the NP point area of the wide-angle lens, parallax will not occur. It can be suppressed to a negligible level.

[0018]

As can be seen from the above description, claim 1
According to the imaging apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, since the wide-angle lens and the second imaging unit for photographing the object to be photographed on the rear side of the convex mirror are provided and the focal point of the convex mirror is set to be located in the NP point region of the wide-angle lens, A wide-angle image of almost the whole celestial sphere without parallax can be obtained.

According to the image pickup apparatus of the fifth aspect, the CCD
Since the wiring of the imaging element is housed inside the light shielding rod, the complexity of arranging the wiring outside is eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing Embodiment 1 of an imaging device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a main part of an imaging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an image captured by a CCD camera according to the first embodiment of the imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for defining an NP point and an NP point region of the equivalent convex lens according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional imaging device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional imaging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Convex mirror 12, 11 ... CCD camera 12a ... Macro lens 10 ... Wide-angle lens P ... Focus Q ... NP point

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03B 15/00 G03B 15/00 W 37/00 37/00 A (72) Inventor Shigeru Tajima Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Tsukasa Yoshimura 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Yasuhiko Ichino Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 6-7-35 Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Sadaharu Koga 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Tatsuya Inogari 6-chome Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 7-35 Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Seisuke Suzuki 6-7-7 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 7-35 Inside Sony Corporation (72) Shinichi Kato 6-7, Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo No. 35 Over Co., Ltd. in the F-term (reference) 2H044 AE10 2H059 BA01 BA15 2H087 KA01 TA03 5C022 AB61 AB68 AC42 AC51 AC54 AC77 AC78

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A convex mirror, first imaging means arranged to face the convex mirror and photographing a portion to be photographed on the front side of the convex mirror, and a wide-angle lens arranged on the back side of the convex mirror;
An imaging device for obtaining a wide-range image by pasting the images from the respective imaging units, the second imaging unit being provided with an imaging unit on the back side of the convex mirror via the wide-angle lens; An image pickup apparatus characterized in that the setting is made such that the image of the second imaging means and the image of the second imaging means overlap. 2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first and second image pickup means comprise an objective lens and an image pickup device. 3. A principal ray passing through a Gaussian region is selected from principal rays passing through the center of the stop provided in the second imaging means, and a linear component in the object space of the principal ray is extended to form an optical axis. A point that intersects with the NP point, and the inside of a sphere centered on the NP point is set as an NP point area, and the focal point of the convex mirror is set to be located in the NP point area of the wide-angle lens The imaging device according to claim 2. 4. The radius dimension of the NP point region is approximately 20 mm
The imaging device according to claim 3, wherein: 5. A light-shielding rod protruding from the convex mirror toward the objective lens of the first image pickup means, wherein a wiring connected to an image pickup element of the second image pickup means is housed inside the light-shielding rod. The imaging device according to claim 4, wherein: