US 10,095,043 B2Granted

Foldable stereoscopic viewing apparatus

AssigneePowis Parker Inc.

InventorsKevin P. Parker, Wayne Kasom

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Abstract

A stereoscopic viewing apparatus for use with a SmartPhone including a pair of lenses and a viewer body preferably fabricated at low cost from a single paper sheet. The sheet is provided with a pair of fold lines which define first and second sheet segments separated by a lens mounting segment. The lens mounting segment defines a pair of left and right lens openings for receiving the respective lenses, with the mounting segment further defining features that secure the lenses in place in the lens openings. When in an operating mode, the first and second sheet segments function to position the lenses appropriately for viewing stereoscopic images on a SmartPhone screen, with the viewer being capable of being folded into a compact state for shipping or storage.

Claims28

Dependent claims

A stereoscopic viewing apparatus for use with a SmartPhone comprising:

left and right optical lenses;
a sheet divided by parallel first and second fold lines so as to define a lens mounting segment disposed intermediate first and second sheet segments;
a left lens mounting structure formed in said lens mounting segment, said first sheet segment and said second sheet segment, with said lens mounting segment defining
a left lens opening for receiving the left lens and
a first pair of opposing edge contacts disposed at opposite sides of the left lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to contact opposite edges of the left lens when the left lens is mounted in the left lens mounting structure,
a pair of lens support tabs disposed at opposite sides of the left lens opening and extending toward a center of the left lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to extend past the opposite edges of the left lens when the left lens is mounted in the left lens mounting structure;
wherein the first sheet segment and the lens mounting segment define a first cutout which extends from the first sheet segment, past the first fold line to the left lens opening;
and
wherein the second sheet segment and lens mounting segment define a second cutout which extends from the second sheet segment, past the second fold line to the left lens opening;
and
a right lens mounting structure formed in said lens mounting segment, said first sheet segment and said second sheet segment, with said lens mounting segment defining
a right lens opening for receiving the right lens and
a first pair of opposing edge contacts disposed at opposite sides of the right lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to contact opposite edges of the right lens when the right lens is mounted in the right lens mounting structure,
a pair of lens support tabs disposed at opposite sides of the right lens opening and extending toward a center of the right lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to extend past the opposite edges of the right lens when the right lens is mounted in the right lens mounting structure;
wherein the first sheet segment and the lens mounting segment define a third cutout which extends from the first sheet segment, past the first fold line to the right lens opening;
and
wherein the second sheet segment and the lens mounting segment define a fourth cutout which extends from the second sheet segment, past the second fold line to the right lens opening.

14 more elements

A stereoscopic viewing apparatus for use with a SmartPhone comprising:

left and right optical lenses;
a sheet divided by parallel first and second fold lines so as to define a lens mounting segment disposed intermediate first and second sheet segments, with the first and second fold lines being spaced apart a distance smaller than an outside diameter of the left and right optical lenses;
a left lens mounting structure formed in said lens mounting segment, with said lens mounting segment defining
a left lens opening for receiving the left lens and
a pair of opposing edge contacts disposed at opposite sides of the left lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to contact opposite edges of the left lens when the left lens is mounted in the left lens mounting structure,
a pair of lens support tabs disposed at opposite sides of the left lens opening and extending toward a center of the left lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to extend past the opposite edges of the left lens when the left lens is mounted in the left lens mounting structure;
and
a right lens mounting structure formed in said lens mounting segment, with said lens mounting segment defining
a right lens opening for receiving the right lens and
a pair of opposing edge contacts disposed at opposite sides of the right lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to contact opposite edges of the right lens when the right lens is mounted in the right lens mounting structure,
a pair of lens support tabs disposed at opposite sides of the right lens opening and extending toward a center of the right lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to extend past the opposite edges of the right lens when the right lens is mounted in the right lens mounting structure and wherein the viewing apparatus is switchable among plural states including a planar state where the first and second sheet segments are substantially coplanar and a folded operating state where the first and second sheet segments are folded about the respective first and second fold lines with respect to the lens mounting segment.

8 more elements

A stereoscopic viewing apparatus for use with a SmartPhone comprising:

left and right optical lenses;
a sheet divided by parallel first and second fold lines so as to define a lens mounting segment disposed intermediate first and second sheet segments, with spacing between the first and second fold lines being smaller than an outer diameter of the left and right optical lenses;
a left lens mounting structure formed in said lens mounting segment, said first sheet segment and said second sheet segment, with said lens mounting segment defining
a left lens opening for receiving the left lens and
a pair of opposing edge contacts disposed at opposite sides of the left lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to contact opposite edges of the left lens when the left lens is mounted in the left lens mounting structure,
a pair of lens support tabs disposed at opposite sides of the left lens opening and extending toward a center of the left lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to extend past the opposite edges of the left lens when the left lens is mounted in the left lens mounting structure;
wherein the first sheet and the lens mounting segments define a first cutout which extends from the first sheet segment, past the first fold line to the left lens opening;
and
wherein the second sheet and lens mounting segments define a second cutout which extends from the second sheet segment, past the second fold line to the left lens opening;
and
a right lens mounting structure formed in said lens mounting segment, said first sheet segment and said second sheet segment, with said lens mounting segment defining
a right lens opening for receiving the right lens and
a pair of opposing edge contacts disposed at opposite sides of the right lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to contact opposite edges of the right lens when the right lens is mounted in the right lens mounting structure,
a pair of lens support tabs disposed at opposite sides of the right lens opening and extending toward a center of the right lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to extend past the opposite edges of the right lens when the right lens is mounted in the right lens mounting structure;
wherein the first sheet and lens mounting segments define a third cutout which extends from the first sheet segment, past the first fold line to the right lens opening;
and
wherein the second sheet and lens mounting segments define a fourth cutout which extends from the second sheet segment, past the second fold line to the right lens opening.

14 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract

A stereoscopic viewing apparatus for use with a SmartPhone comprising:

left and right optical lenses;
a sheet divided by parallel first and second fold lines so as to define a lens mounting segment disposed intermediate first and second sheet segments;
a left lens mounting structure formed in said lens mounting segment, said first sheet segment and said second sheet segment, with said lens mounting segment defining
a left lens opening for receiving the left lens and
a first pair of opposing edge contacts disposed at opposite sides of the left lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to contact opposite edges of the left lens when the left lens is mounted in the left lens mounting structure,
a pair of lens support tabs disposed at opposite sides of the left lens opening and extending toward a center of the left lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to extend past the opposite edges of the left lens when the left lens is mounted in the left lens mounting structure;
wherein the first sheet segment and the lens mounting segment define a first cutout which extends from the first sheet segment, past the first fold line to the left lens opening;
and
wherein the second sheet segment and lens mounting segment define a second cutout which extends from the second sheet segment, past the second fold line to the left lens opening;
and
a right lens mounting structure formed in said lens mounting segment, said first sheet segment and said second sheet segment, with said lens mounting segment defining
a right lens opening for receiving the right lens and
a first pair of opposing edge contacts disposed at opposite sides of the right lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to contact opposite edges of the right lens when the right lens is mounted in the right lens mounting structure,
a pair of lens support tabs disposed at opposite sides of the right lens opening and extending toward a center of the right lens opening and spaced apart from one another a distance so as to extend past the opposite edges of the right lens when the right lens is mounted in the right lens mounting structure;
wherein the first sheet segment and the lens mounting segment define a third cutout which extends from the first sheet segment, past the first fold line to the right lens opening;
and
wherein the second sheet segment and the lens mounting segment define a fourth cutout which extends from the second sheet segment, past the second fold line to the right lens opening.

14 more elements