Back to results
US 2009/0021823 A1Published application
Optical systems employing compliant electroactive materials
AssigneeArtificial Muscle, Inc.
InventorsJonathan R. HEIM, Alireza ZARRABI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides optical systems, devices and methods which utilize one or more electroactive films to adjust an optical parameter of the optical device/system.
Claims33
An optical device comprising:
- a transparent/translucent membrane;
- and
- at least one electroactive film comprising a dielectric layer and two electrode layers, wherein at least a portion of the dielectric layer is sandwiched between the electrodes;
- wherein activation of the at least one electroactive film affects a dimension of the transparent membrane.
1 more element
An optical system comprising:
- at least one fluidic lens;
- and
- at least one electroactive film associated with the at least one fluid lens, wherein activation of the at least one electroactive film affects an optical parameter of the fluidic lens.
An optical system comprising:
- a focusing lens element;
- and
- an afocal lens element positioned relative to the focusing lens;
- wherein at least one of the lens elements comprises at least one fluidic lens and at least one electroactive film associated with the at least one fluidic lens for adjusting an optical parameter of the system.
1 more element
A method of focusing an image using a lens element, the method comprising:
- providing a fluidic lens comprising a fluid-filled chamber having flexible transparent/translucent walls;
- activating an electroactive film to adjust the thickness of the chamber thereby adjusting a focal length of the fluidic lens.
A method of magnifying an image using a lens element, the method comprising:
- providing an afocal lens assembly comprising a fluid-filled chamber having flexible walls;
- activating an electroactive film to adjust the thickness of the chamber.
An optical device comprising:
- at least one electroactive film comprising at least one opaque region and at least one transparent region, wherein activation of the at least one electroactive film changes a surface area of the transparent/translucent region relative to a surface area of the opaque region, wherein such change modulates the amount of light passing through the at least one transparent/translucent region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.