The present disclosure relates to an imaging lens and an imaging device provided therewith.
In recent years, as typified by the high performance of an imaging device mounted on a portable communication terminal such as a smartphone, an imaging lens having a smaller size and a higher resolution is desired for an imaging device commonly mounted on an electronic device. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a proposal for downsizing and increasing the resolution of a four-lens imaging lens.
Recently, more electronic devices are mounted with a distance measurement sensor such as a time of flight (ToF) sensor. Such a distance measurement sensor measures the distance to a subject by using a time from when light is emitted from a light source to when reflected light reflected by the subject is received by a light receiving element. Such a distance measurement sensor is also a type of imaging device, and causes a light receiving element to receive reflected light through an imaging lens. Also an imaging lens used for a distance measurement sensor is desired to be an imaging lens having a smaller size and a higher resolution. Patent Document 2 below discloses a proposal for exhibiting stable resolution performance for an imaging lens that forms an image with near-infrared light.
In the imaging lens, an unreasonable design results in a large variation in the value of performance of an actually produced lens with respect to the performance design value of the lens, and prevents the performance of the entire lens system in which a plurality of lenses are combined from being fully exhibited. Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not mention this point, and there is room for improvement in realizing an imaging lens that can reduce production variation while being small in size and high in resolution.
Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an imaging lens that can reduce production variation while having a small size and high resolution, and an imaging device provided therewith.
An imaging lens according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a lens system in which a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, and a fourth lens are arranged in order from an object side. The first lens has negative refractive power, and a lens surface on an object side of the first lens is a convex surface, the second lens has positive refractive power, and both of a lens surface on an object side and a lens surface on an imaging surface side of the second lens are convex surfaces, the third lens has positive refractive power, and a lens surface on an imaging surface side of the third lens is a convex surface, the fourth lens has negative refractive power, and a lens surface on an imaging surface side of the fourth lens is a concave surface, and the lens system satisfies conditions of:
where f is a focal length of the lens system, f1 is a focal length of the first lens, and f2 is a focal length of the second lens.
An imaging device according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes an imaging lens having the above configuration.
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an imaging lens that can reduce production variation while being small in size and high in resolution, and a distance measurement sensor including the same.
Hereinafter, one embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference signs throughout all the drawings, and redundant detailed description will be omitted. Hereinafter, an aspect in which an imaging device applied with the imaging lens of the present disclosure constitutes a distance measurement sensor will be exemplified.
The light receiver 30 includes an imaging lens 1 including a lens system 2 described later, and an imaging element 3 including a plurality of light receiving elements arranged on an imaging surface IA of the imaging lens 1. Note that the imaging lens 1 illustrated in
The controller 40 includes an arithmetic unit 41, an input unit 42, an output unit 43, a signal transmission unit 44, a signal reception unit 45, and a storage unit 46. These components are configured to be able to transmit signals to one another via a bus 47. The controller 40 is configured as a computer including a CPU, a main memory (RAM), a storage, and a communication interface. Therefore, each of the above-described components 41, 42, . . . , and 46 can be regarded as a processing circuit.
The input unit 42 receives a control signal from the outside. For example, when the distance measurement sensor 10 is mounted on a communication terminal such as a smartphone, the input unit 42 receives, as a control signal, a distance measurement start signal from a higher-level processor in the communication terminal. When the input unit 42 receives the control signal, the signal transmission unit 44 outputs a drive signal for lighting the light source 20. The light receiver 30 receives (images) reflected light in which light emitted from the light source 20 is reflected by the subject. The imaging element 3 (light receiving element) converts reflected light received through the imaging lens 1 into an electric signal (imaging signal), and transmits the electric signal to the controller 40. The signal reception unit 45 receives the imaging signal from the light receiver 30.
The arithmetic unit 41 measures the time from when the light emitted by the light source 20 is emitted to when the light is received by the imaging element 3, calculates the distance between the distance measurement sensor 10 and the subject from the time and the light speed, and generates distance measurement data. By calculating the distance for each light receiving element (pixel) constituting the imaging element 3, the arithmetic unit 41 can output the distance measurement data as image data. The output unit 43 outputs the distance measurement data calculated by the arithmetic unit 41 to the outside. For example, when mounted on the communication terminal as described above, the distance measurement sensor 10 outputs the distance measurement data to the higher-level processor in the communication terminal.
The imaging lens 1 according to the present embodiment includes the lens system 2 in which a first lens L1, a second lens L2, a third lens L3, and a fourth lens L4 are arranged in order from an object side.
The first lens L1 has negative refractive power, and the lens surface S1 on the object side thereof is a convex surface. The second lens L2 has positive refractive power, and both the lens surface S3 on the object side and the lens surface S4 on the imaging surface side thereof are convex surfaces. The third lens L3 has positive refractive power, and the lens surface S6 on the imaging surface side thereof is a convex surface. The fourth lens L4 has negative refractive power, and the lens surface S8 on the imaging surface side thereof is a concave surface.
Note that, in the imaging lens 1 illustrated in
In the present embodiment, the lens system 2 satisfies the following Conditional Expressions (1) and (2).
where f is the focal length of the lens system 2, f1 is the focal length of the first lens L1, and f2 is the focal length of the second lens L2.
The Conditional Expression (1) is a conditional expression that defines the negative refractive power of the first lens L1 in the first lens L1 having the negative refractive power. The larger the value of f1/f, which is a negative value, is, (the smaller the absolute value is), the stronger the negative refractive power in the first lens L1 is, and the smaller the value of f1/f is (the larger the absolute value is), the weaker the negative refractive power in the first lens L1 is.
When the value of f1/f exceeds the upper limit value in the Conditional Expression (1), the negative refractive power of the first lens L1 becomes too strong, and it becomes difficult to shorten the total length of the lens system 2 while suppressing the aberration. On the other hand, by satisfying the Conditional Expression (1) by setting the value of f1/f to be less than the upper limit value, the refractive power of the first lens L1 is appropriately defined, and it is possible to shorten the total length of the lens system 2. Note that the upper limit value of the Conditional Expression (1) is preferably −6.
The Conditional Expression (2) is a conditional expression that defines the positive refractive power of the second lens L2 in the second lens L2 having the positive refractive power. The smaller the value of f2/f, which is a positive value, is, the stronger the positive refractive power in the second lens L2 is, and the larger the value of f2/f is, the weaker the positive refractive power in the second lens L2 is.
In the lens system 2 in the present embodiment, the second lens L2 is a main lens for determining the refractive power of the entire lens system 2. When the refractive power of the second lens L2 becomes stronger to an extent that the value of f2/f falls below the lower limit value in the Conditional Expression (2), the occurrence of axial aberration increases and performance deterioration due to an eccentricity error increases. Therefore, the variation in the value of performance of the actually produced second lens L2 with respect to the performance design value of the second lens L2 increases, and the performance of the entire lens system 2 cannot be fully exhibited.
On the other hand, by satisfying the range of the Conditional Expression (2), it is possible to shorten the total length, increase the resolution, suppress the occurrence of axial aberration, and reduce performance deterioration due to an eccentricity error. As a result, it is possible to realize the lens system 2 that can reduce the production variation. Note that the lower limit value of the Conditional Expression (2) is preferably 0.9.
Furthermore, an upper limit value may be set in the Conditional Expression (2). In this case, the upper limit value of the Conditional Expression (2) is preferably, for example, 2, and more preferably 1.6. By setting the value of f2/f to be smaller than the upper limit value, it is easy to secure the refractive power of the second lens L2 and to secure the positive refractive power necessary for shortening the total length of the lens system 2 and increasing the diameter of the lens system 2.
In the present embodiment, the lens system 2 can further satisfy the following Conditional Expression (3).
where Epd is an entrance pupil diameter.
The Conditional Expression (3) is a conditional expression that defines a so-called F-number. By satisfying the Conditional Expression (3) by setting the value of f/Epd to be less than the upper limit value, it is possible to secure a necessary light amount in a short exposure time even for the imaging element 3 that is small in size and high in definition.
In the present embodiment, the lens system 2 can further satisfy the following Conditional Expression (4).
where R1 is the radius of curvature of the lens surface S1 on the object side of the first lens L1.
The Conditional Expression (4) is a conditional expression that defines the relationship between the radius of curvature of the lens surface S1 on the object side of the first lens L1 and the focal length. By satisfying the Conditional Expression (4) by setting the value of R1/f to be less than the upper limit value, it is possible to suppress the divergence of an on-axis light ray in the first lens L1 and shorten the total length of the lens system 2. Note that the upper limit value of the Conditional Expression (4) is preferably 1.6.
A lower limit value may be set in the Conditional Expression (4). In this case, the lower limit value is preferably 0.5, and more preferably 0.7. By setting the value of R1/f to be larger than the lower limit value, it is possible to suppress weakening of the refractive power on the object side surface of the first lens L1 and shorten the total length of the lens system 2.
In the present embodiment, the lens system 2 can further satisfy the following Conditional Expression (5).
where nd2 is a refractive index of the second lens L2.
The Conditional Expression (5) is a conditional expression that defines the refractive index of the second lens L2. As described above, the second lens L2 is a main lens for determining the refractive power of the entire lens system 2. Therefore, when the refractive index nd2 of the second lens L2 falls below the lower limit value in the Conditional Expression (5), the refractive power of the entire lens system 2cannot be secured, and the aberration generation amount increases.
On the other hand, by satisfying the Conditional Expression (5) by setting the refractive index nd2 of the second lens L2 to be larger than the lower limit value, it is possible to secure the refractive power of the second lens L2, and suppress the aberration generation amount in the entire lens system 2.
In the present embodiment, the lens system 2 can further satisfy the following Conditional Expression (6).
where D23 is a distance between the lens surface S2 on the imaging surface side of the first lens L1 and the lens surface S3 on the object side of second lens L2. The Conditional Expression (6) is a conditional expression that defines a lens interval between the first lens L1 and the second lens L2. When the value of D23/f exceeds the upper limit value of the Conditional Expression (6), the interval between the first lens L1 and the second lens L2 increases, and the height of an off-axis light ray passing through the second lens L2 and the third lens L3 increases, and therefore it becomes difficult to downsize the lens system 2. Since the generation amount of off-axis aberration also increases, aberration correction becomes difficult.
On the other hand, by satisfying the Conditional Expression (6) by setting the value of D23/f to be smaller than the upper limit value, it is possible to reduce the effective diameters of the second lens L2 and the third lens L3. Furthermore, the aberration generation amount can also be reduced, and a high-resolution lens can be realized. Note that the upper limit value of the Conditional Expression (6) is preferably 0.15, and more preferably 0.12. A lower limit value of the Conditional Expression (6) may be set. In this case, the lower limit value of the Conditional Expression (6) is preferably 0.01, and more preferably 0.03.
In the present embodiment, the lens system 2 can further satisfy the following Conditional Expression (7).
where TTL is the total length of the lens system 2. More specifically, TTL is a length from the lens surface S1 on the object side of the first lens L1 to the imaging surface IA.
The Conditional Expression (7) is a conditional expression that defines the total length of the lens system 2. When the value of TTL/f exceeds the upper limit value of the Conditional Expression (7), the total length of the lens system 2 becomes long, and the lens system 2 cannot be downsized. When the value of TTL/f falls below the lower limit value of the Conditional Expression (7), the aberration generation amount of the entire lens system 2 cannot be suppressed.
On the other hand, by the value of TTL/f satisfying the range of the Conditional Expression (7), it is possible to suppress the aberration generation amount of the entire lens system 2 while downsizing the lens system 2. Note that the upper limit value of the Conditional Expression (7) is preferably 1.8. The lower limit value of the Conditional Expression (7) is preferably 1.2.
In the present embodiment, the lens system 2 can further satisfy the following Conditional Expression (8).
where f4 is the focal length of the fourth lens L4.
The Conditional Expression (8) defines the relationship between the focal length of the fourth lens L4 having negative refractive power and the focal length of the lens system 2. When the value of f4/f exceeds the upper limit value in the Conditional Expression (8), the refractive power of the fourth lens L4 becomes too strong, and thus aberration correction becomes difficult and performance deterioration due to an eccentricity error increases. The fourth lens L4 is close to the imaging surface IA, and is easily affected by heat generated in the imaging element 3 (light receiving element). In particular, in a plastic lens in which the change amounts in a linear expansion coefficient and a refractive index with temperature are larger than those of glass, a refractive power change accompanying a temperature change becomes large, and optical characteristics such as focal position fluctuation and resolution performance deteriorate.
On the other hand, by satisfying the Conditional Expression (8) by setting the value of f4/f to be smaller than the upper limit value, the refractive power of the fourth lens L4 can be set to an appropriate range, and thus it is possible to suppress the fluctuation in the optical characteristics due to a temperature change while suppressing performance deterioration due to an eccentricity error. Note that the upper limit value of the Conditional Expression (8) is preferably −3.
In the present embodiment, the lens system 2 can further satisfy the following Conditional Expression (9).
where R1 is the radius of curvature of the lens surface S1 on the object side of the first lens L1, and R2 is the radius of curvature of the lens surface S2 on the imaging surface side of the first lens L1.
The Conditional Expression (9) is a conditional expression that defines the shape of the first lens L1. By setting the value of (R1+R2)/(R1−R2) to be larger than the lower limit value of the Conditional Expression (9), it is possible to suppress the refractive power of the first lens L1 from becoming too large, and easily reduce the amount of the aberration generated on each surface of the first lens L1.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide the imaging lens 1 that can reduce production variation while being small in size and high in resolution. Moreover, use of the lens system 2 with a small F-number can realize the imaging lens 1 that can secure a peripheral light amount even when the angle of view is large.
In Patent Document 1 described above, the F-number is about 2.3 and it is difficult to provide a large-diameter lens having a small F-number. Also in Patent Document 2, the F-number is 2.0 to 2.6, and the half angle of view is as narrow as around 30 degrees. In particular, when the imaging lens 1 is applied to the distance measurement sensor 10 as illustrated in
On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide the imaging lens 1 including the lens system 2 having a wide angle of view with a half angle of view of 35 degrees or more while having an F-number less than 1.8. Moreover, even with such the imaging lens 1, it is possible to reduce production variation while having a small size and a high resolution.
Hereinafter, examples of the imaging lens 1 of the present disclosure will be described. Parameters used for each example are as follows. In lens data and tables of the specification data of the lens system, “degree” is used as the unit of angle, and “mm” is used as the unit of length. The calculation wavelength of the focal length is 940 nm.
Note that the notation of (STO) in the lens surface number indicates that a diaphragm surface STO is located on the corresponding lens surface Si. The surface number of the lens surface on the object side of the bandpass filter 4 is 9, and the surface number of the lens surface on the imaging surface side of the bandpass filter 4 is 10. Note that “inf” indicates that the surface is a flat surface.
In each example, all the lens surfaces Si have an aspherical shape. Here, when a distance (sag amount) in the optical axis direction from a tangential plane of a surface vertex is X, a height from the optical axis is H, R is a radius of curvature, K is a conic constant, and Am is an m-th order aspherical coefficient, the aspherical shape is expressed by the following expression.
Therefore, in the following, the value of Am in Expression (10) above is indicated, and the aspherical shape is specified. In the table of aspherical data, “E±n” (n: natural number) of the numerical value of the aspherical coefficient is an exponential expression with a base of 10. That is, “E±n” means “×10±n”.
The imaging lens 1A of Example 1 includes, in order from the object side, the first lens L1 having negative refractive power with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side, an aperture diaphragm STO, the positive second lens L2 having a biconvex shape, the third lens L3 that is positive with the concave surface facing the object side and the convex surface facing the imaging surface side, and the fourth lens L4 that is negative with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side.
Table 1 below shows lens data of the imaging lens 1A of Example 1.
The conic constant K and the aspherical coefficient Am in Example 1 are shown in Tables 2 and 3 below.
The focal length f, the F-number, the half angle of view ω, the maximum image height ImgH, and the total optical length TTL of the imaging lens 1A in Example 1 are shown in Table 4 below.
The imaging lens 1B of Example 2 includes, in order from the object side, the aperture diaphragm STO, the first lens L1 having negative refractive power with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side, the positive second lens L2 having a biconvex shape, the third lens L3 that is positive with the concave surface facing the object side and the convex surface facing the imaging surface side, and the fourth lens L4 that is negative with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side.
Table 5 below shows lens data of the imaging lens 1B of Example 2.
The conic constant K and the aspherical coefficient Am in Example 2 are shown in Tables 6 and 7 below.
The focal length f, the F-number, the half angle of view ω, the maximum image height ImgH, and the total optical length TTL of the imaging lens 1B in Example 2 are shown in Table 8 below.
The imaging lens 1C of Example 3 includes, in order from the object side, the first lens L1 having negative refractive power with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side, the aperture diaphragm STO, the positive second lens L2 having a biconvex shape, the third lens L3 that is positive with the concave surface facing the object side and the convex surface facing the imaging surface side, and the fourth lens L4 that is negative with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side.
Table 9 below shows lens data of the imaging lens 1C of Example 3.
The conic constant K and the aspherical coefficient Am in Example 3 are shown in Tables 10 and 11 below.
The focal length f, the F-number, the half angle of view ω, the maximum image height ImgH, and the total optical length TTL of the imaging lens 1C in Example 3 are shown in Table 12 below.
The imaging lens 1D of Example 4 includes, in order from the object side, the first lens L1 having negative refractive power with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side, the aperture diaphragm STO, the positive second lens L2 having a biconvex shape, the third lens L3 that is positive with the concave surface facing the object side and the convex surface facing the imaging surface side, and the fourth lens L4 that is negative with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side.
Table 13 below shows lens data of the imaging lens 1D of Example 4.
The conic constant K and the aspherical coefficient Am in Example 4 are shown in Tables 14 and 15 below.
The focal length f, the F-number, the half angle of view ω, the maximum image height ImgH, and the total optical length TTL of the imaging lens 1D in Example 4 are shown in Table 16 below.
The imaging lens 1E of Example 5 includes, in order from the object side, the first lens L1 having negative refractive power with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side, the aperture diaphragm STO, the positive second lens L2 having a biconvex shape, the third lens L3 that is positive with the concave surface facing the object side and the convex surface facing the imaging surface side, and the fourth lens L4 that is negative with the convex surface facing the object side and the concave surface facing the imaging surface side.
Table 17 below shows lens data of the imaging lens 1E of Example 5.
The conic constant K and the aspherical coefficient Am in Example 5 are shown in Tables 18 and 19 below.
The focal length f, the F-number, the half angle of view ω, the maximum image height ImgH, and the total optical length TTL of the imaging lens 1E in Example 5 are shown in Table 20 below.
Table 21 shows corresponding values of the Conditional Expressions (1) to (9) in the lens systems of Examples 1 to 5. Tables 22 and 23 show numerical values related to the Conditional Expressions (1) to (9). As shown in Table 21, all of the Conditional Expressions (1) to (9) are satisfied in any of the examples.
As illustrated in the aberration diagrams (
Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, configurations, combinations thereof, and the like in each embodiment are merely examples, and addition, omission, substitution, and other changes of the configurations can be appropriately made without departing from the gist of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is not limited by the embodiments, but is limited only by the claims.
The present disclosure is useful for providing an imaging lens that can reduce production variation while being small in size and high in resolution. The imaging device applied with the imaging lens of the present disclosure is not limited to the distance measurement sensor exemplified in the above embodiment. For example, the present disclosure can also be applied to a camera for imaging that forms an image of visible light. The distance measurement sensor applied with the imaging lens of the present disclosure is, for example, a distance measurement sensor that receives reflected light of a light source that emits light of a single wavelength such as near-infrared light or visible light. The distance measurement sensor mounted with the imaging lens of the present disclosure is useful for providing, for example, an imaging assist function in an imaging camera such as background blurring and autofocus, an automatic drive technology of an automatic cleaner, an automobile, and the like, a face authentication technology, an AR space realization technology, and the like.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-040406 | Mar 2022 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2023/008595 | 3/7/2023 | WO |