Abstract: An adjustment mechanism for adjusting an axial position of one lens component relative to other lens components of an optical lens system comprises a lens holding frame mounting the lens component that has a peripheral locating seat and a cylinder holding and allowing the lens holding frame to rotate about and move along the optical axis that has an axial position selective collar with a flight of stairs. The lens holding frame is rotated to bring the locating seat into abutment selectively against the stairs, so as thereby to position the lens component mounted in the lens holding frame at a desired axial n with respect to the remaining lens components.

Abstract: A suction valve for an endoscope use includes a valve casing which is set up in the control portion of an endoscope and is connected with a suction side path having an opening as a suction inlet at the tip distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope and is also connected with a suction source side path connected with a negative pressure generation source, and a valve member which is fitted up in the valve casing to be allowed to make a slide motion inside thereof and is constituted such that it is able to switch the state in which the suction side path is cut off from the suction source side path to the state in which the suction side path is in communication with the suction source side path or vice versa in correspondence with the position of the valve member in the valve casing, wherein a groove is formed in the outer peripheral surface of the valve member in contact with the inside of the valve casing.

Abstract: A plastic lens is fixedly held in precise position a lens holder by cramming a deformable retaining ring between a front collar and a periphery of the plastic lens loosely put in an annular mounting space formed in the lens holder and crushing the front collar against the retaining ring so as thereby to rivet the plastic lens to the lens holder.

Abstract: An imaging lens for an image pickup device is formed of only two lens components that are lens elements. An aperture diaphragm is on the object side of the object-side lens component. All four lens component lens surfaces are aspheric. The lens surface configuration near the optical axis of the object-side lens surface of the second lens component is convex. The lens surface configuration near the optical axis of at least one of the other three lens surfaces is concave. In various different embodiments, the lens surface configuration near the optical axis and the lens surface configuration near the periphery of a lens surface are different; the lens surface configuration of the intermediate portion of a lens surface differs from the other lens surface configurations; the Abbe numbers of the two lens elements satisfy a certain relationship; and a diffractive optical surface is used as one lens surface.

Abstract: A polarized beam splitter includes an inclined intermediate layer between two glass prisms. The intermediate layer includes an adhesive layer and a polarized light separating membrane. The intermediate layer may be wedge-shaped in order to compensate for or to cancel astigmatism of light transmitted by the polarized beam splitter caused by the inclination of the intermediate layer. The polarized beam splitter may also be formed with the refractive indexes of the glass and the adhesive of the adhesive layer chosen to reduce astigmatism. Embodiments of three-color projection image display devices that use the polarized beam splitter are also disclosed. The three-color projection image display devices may use one or three polarized beam splitters with a Philips prism or use two polarized beam splitters with a COLORQUAD.

Abstract: A vibration attenuating mechanism and method is disclosed for the purpose of maintaining a high quality of image reading or writing while scanning a document with an image processing device which includes a carriage that supports an optical scanning element, a motor which drives the optical scanning element so as to scan a document for either reading or writing data, and a housing which supports the optical scanning element and the motor. At least one of a weight or a vibration absorbing material is provided nearby the motor so as to reduce vibrations which are transferred from the motor to the optical scanning element. In this way, the quality of image reading is maintained despite the recent trend toward increased scanning speeds.

Abstract: A large numerical aperture objective lens is disclosed having three lens groups. In order from the object side, these lens groups include: a first lens group of positive refractive power that is formed of two positive lens elements and an achromatic set of paired lens elements formed of a lens element of negative refractive power and a lens element of positive refractive power, respectively; a second lens group of negative refractive power; and a third lens group of positive refractive power, with the surface of the third lens group nearest the object side being convex. Specified conditions are satisfied in order to provide a compact, large numerical aperture objective lens having its aberrations favorably corrected as well as to correct for shifts of focus caused by expansion/contraction of the lens barrel with changes in temperature.

Abstract: In an electronic endoscope using an imaging element comprising a colour filter for pixel binning, it is possible to carry out outline enhancement processing, zoom processing, and the like, to a high degree of detail. An optical chopper 36 in the form of a semi-circular plate is caused to rotate at {fraction (1/30)}th second per revolution, and images are captured in time periods of {fraction (1/60)}th second separated by light shielding intervals of {fraction (1/60)}th second. An imaging signal for the odd-numbered lines and the even-numbered lines is read out successively from the imaging element at {fraction (1/60)}th second intervals, and stored in memories 23 and 24, respectively.

Abstract: There are disclosed a lens barrel variable in a barrel length between a storage state relatively short in a barrel length and an image taking state relatively long in a barrel length, a camera having such a lens barrel. When the lens barrel is in the storage state, an opening of a lens shutter is opened to enter lens groups into the opening.

Abstract: In a focusing state determining device for determining a focusing state of a taking lens, an object light entering the taking lens is captured by focusing state determination imaging elements provided separately from a video imaging element, and the focusing state is determined according to luminance signals outputted from the focusing state determination imaging elements. Any error of determination of the focusing state induced by saturation of the luminance signals in imaging an object of high luminance is prevented by adjusting the gains of the image signals outputted from the focusing state determination imaging elements or the charge accumulation times of the focusing state determination imaging elements. High-frequency components are determined from the luminance signals obtained from the focusing state determination imaging elements (A, B, C), and the focus evaluation value is determined by integration thereof.

Abstract: In a digital camera, the subject light is formed on a solid state imaging device so that an image signal is generated. The digital camera has a lens barrel incorporating therein an image taking lens, the lens barrel being variable in a barrel length between a collapsed state in which the barrel length is relative short and a photographic state in which the barrel length is relative long. The lens barrel comprises a light quantity control member that controls quantity of photographic light passing through the image taking lens, and a light quantity control member saving and advancing mechanism that provides such a control that when the lens barrel changes over from the photographic state to the collapsed state, the light quantity control member is saved from a photographic optical axis, and when the lens barrel changes over from the collapsed state to the photographic state, the light quantity control member is advanced to the photographic optical axis.

Abstract: In the distance measuring apparatus which uses a passive AF sensor and determines the subject distance by carrying out correlation value calculation according to AF data obtained from a pair of line sensors of the AF sensor to detect the smallest minimum value of the correlation value, if the difference between the smallest minimum value and the second smallest minimum value of the correlation values is smaller than a predetermined value, it is determined that distance measurement is impossible, and the predetermined value is changed in accordance with the magnitude of the smallest minimum value, thus making it possible to appropriately determine whether distance measurement is possible or impossible according to the aspect of AF data. Therefore, problems such that it is determined that distance measurement is impossible more than necessary, or erroneous distance measurement occurs can be prevented.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical lens designed to reduce the size and weight of the lens without reducing the lens accuracy of the optical function plane and the optical lens is formed by molding a lens molded component having a flange section around the perimeter of the optical function section and removing at least three sides of the flange section of the lens molded component to reduce the area of the flange, and an engagement section on the outer surface of the flange unremoved section is inscribed in the inner surface of the barrel and thereby engaged with the barrel.

Abstract: A fixed focal length, wide-angle lens includes, in order from the object side, a negative first lens group that includes a plastic negative lens element, a positive second lens group that includes a plastic positive lens element, a positive third lens group that includes a positive lens element joined on its image side to another lens element, and a positive fourth lens group. In the preferred embodiments, all lens groups except the third lens group are single lens elements that each include an aspheric lens surface. Also, the wide-angle lens preferably satisfies specified conditions that, together with the use of plastic lenses, joined lens elements, and aspheric surfaces, enables a high performance, compact, wide-angle lens of relatively simple construction to be produced.

Abstract: A light-source unit is disposed such that illumination light is horizontally emitted relative to an oblong screen. Three liquid-crystal display panels respectively have a liquid-crystal display surface of a rectangle. The display panels are disposed in a lengthwise posture and in a state that longer sides of the display surfaces are parallel with each other. At the same time, all the longer sides are perpendicular to a reference plane. A projection optical system is provided with a reflex mirror for perpendicularly bending an optical path. A rotation optical system for rotating projection light by 90 degrees is constituted of the reflex mirror and a plane mirror disposed behind the screen.

Abstract: A dichroic prism 10 according to the present invention comprises first to fourth right angle prisms 12, 14, 16 and 18 respectively having first side faces 28, 34, 40 and 46, and second side faces 30, 36, 42 and 48, the side faces being arranged perpendicular to each other. A second bonded face 22 and a fourth bonded face 26, each having a dichroic film for a second color light, are arranged on the same plane. The first bonded face 20 and a third bonded face 26, each having the dichroic film for a first color light, are deviated by a predetermined distance. The distance of this deviation is adjusted so that an image formed by the light having reference image information corresponds to the image of the reference image information. The light is made incident on and reflected by the first bonded face and the third bonded face. Therefore, an appropriate image quality can be obtained without depending on a right angle precision.

Abstract: A beam splitter (24)for splitting light in a wavelength range of about 500 nm to about 600 nm is arranged in a relay optical system of a taking lens (12). A green light beam reflected from the beam splitter (24) is directed through a relay lens (R3) to a focusing state determination imaging unit (26). The imaging unit (26) comprises three imaging elements (A, B, C) for capturing the directed green light beam to determine the focusing state. Thus, a device for determining the focusing state of the taking lens is provided, in which the green light beam is separated as an object light for determining the focusing state from the object light entering the taking lens (12), so that the focusing state can be determined with high accuracy on the basis of the high-frequency components of the image signal generated by capturing the green light beam by means of the imaging elements (A, B, C) having different optical path lengths.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an optical component in which a plurality of glass optical elements are integrated thus improving the productivity and providing consistent quality. The optical component of the present invention comprises a plurality of lens parts 1 which is formed from glass material by press molding, a tubular leg part 2 which is formed during the press molding, and which bends at and extends downward from the periphery of the lens part 1, a planar part 3 which bends outwardly and extends horizontally from the tubular leg part 2 providing connection to other lens parts 1, and the cover glass 4 of the image sensor chip 5, which is fixed onto the lower surface of the planar part 3, and/or image sensor chip 5 which is disposed below the lens part 1.

Abstract: The present invention is implemented to improve the accuracy of a mirror surface and provides an optical reflecting mirror 1 formed by applying injection molding to a plastic material, wherein the surface shape to be a mirror surface 2 includes a curved section A and the thickness t1, t2 or t3 from the front surface 2 to back surface 3 is formed so as to be uniform or substantially uniform as a whole.

Abstract: For an optical reflecting mirror formed by applying injection molding to a plastic material, it is an object of the present invention to suppress warpage or distortion due to molding contraction and provide an optical reflecting mirror such as an axial eccentric a spherical mirror or free curved surface mirror with a highly accurate mirror surface, which is an axial eccentric a spherical mirror or free curved surface mirror formed by applying injection molding to a plastic material, including a rib connected in such a way as to intersect with the body having the mirror surface, formed at least at the outer edge of the mirror surface closest to the maximum curvature part within the mirror surface.