Apparatus for mapping optical elements

A method for mapping a multifocal ophthalmic element, the method comprising:

• illuminating a multifocal ophthalmic element with a light beam;
• providing a first plurality of beam separating elements operative to separate the light beam into a corresponding first plurality of light beam portions;
• generating a digital light spot map including a first plurality of light spots corresponding to said first plurality of beam separating elements;
• and
• for each of a second plurality of locations within the ophthalmic element, deriving at least one multifocal ophthalmic element location characteristic.

A method for mapping a soft contact lens element, the method comprising:

• illuminating a soft contact lens element with a light beam;
• providing a first plurality of beam separating elements operative to separate the light beam into a corresponding first plurality of light beam portions;
• generating a digital light spot map including a first plurality of light spots corresponding to said first plurality of beam separating elements;
• and
• for each of a second plurality of locations within the lens element, deriving at least one soft contact lens element location characteristic.

Apparatus for mapping an ophthalmic lens, the apparatus comprising:

• a light source arranged to transmit light toward the ophthalmic lens;
• a beam separator including a plurality of beam separating elements operative to separate a light beam into a corresponding plurality of light beam portions;
• an optical sensing device operative to generate a digital light spot map including a plurality of light spots corresponding to said plurality of beam separating elements, each light spot comprising an intersection between a corresponding light beam portion and a plane disposed within the field of view of the optical sensing device;
• and
• an ophthalmic characteristic map generating device operative to generate a map of an ophthalmic characteristic of the ophthalmic lens based on said light spot map.

A method for mapping an IR optical element, the method comprising:

• illuminating an IR optical element with a light beam;
• providing a first plurality of beam separating elements operative to separate the light beam into a corresponding first plurality of light beam portions;
• generating a digital light spot map including a first plurality of light spots corresponding to said first plurality of beam separating elements;
• and
• for each of a second plurality of locations within the IR optical element, deriving at least one IR optical element location characteristic.

Apparatus for mapping a multifocal ophthalmic element comprising:

• a light source for illuminating a multifocal ophthalmic element;
• a first plurality of beam separating elements operative to separate a light beam into a corresponding first plurality of light beam portions;
• a digital light spot map generator operative to generate a first plurality of light spots corresponding to said first plurality of beam separating elements, each light spot comprising an intersection between a corresponding light beam portion and a plane disposed within the field view of the optical sensing device;
• and
• an ophthalmic element location characterizer operative to derive at least one multifocal ophthalmic element location characteristic, for each of a second plurality of locations within the ophthalmic element.

Apparatus for mapping an optical element, the apparatus comprising:

• a light source arranged to transmit a light beam toward the optical element;
• a beam separator including a plurality of beam separating elements operative to separate a light beam arriving from the light source into a corresponding plurality of light beam portions before impingement of the light beam on the optical element;
• an optical sensing device operative to generate a digital light spot map including a plurality of light spots corresponding to said plurality of beam separating elements, each light spot comprising an intersection between a corresponding light beam portion and a plane disposed within the field of view of the optical sensing device;
• and
• an optical element characteristic computation device operative to derive at least one characteristic of each of at least two locations within the optical element from said light spot map.