Double fold optics
AssigneeBio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsEvan Thrush, Evelio Perez, Steve Swihart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An imaging assembly for the viewing, imaging, and analysis of biological, chemical, and/or biochemical samples in gels or other substrates, in which an adjustable camera and lens module, a reflex mirror, and a focal plane mirror, are configured to bend or fold an optical path in order to image a target region, and where the optical path can be reflected along non-orthogonal angles. The imaging assembly is configured to reduce the overall size of the imaging apparatus due to the angles at which the mirrors and camera and lens assembly are positioned relative to each other, which allows for the imaging of relatively larger samples in the target region.
Claims15
An imaging assembly comprising:
- a platform having a target region;
- a camera and lens module;
- a reflex mirror, positioned along an optical path incident from the camera and lens module, wherein the reflex mirror is oriented relative to the camera and lens module with a yaw angle of about 15° to about 35°;
- and
- a focal plane mirror, positioned along an optical path incident from the reflex mirror, wherein the focal plane mirror is oriented relative to the reflex mirror with a pitch angle of about 15° to about 25°, the optical path between the camera and lens module and the target region being non-orthogonal, having an imaging distance length of about 50 cm to about 70 cm, and having a focal plane in the target region.
An imaging system assembly comprising:
- an imaging assembly comprising a camera and lens module and a target region, wherein an optical path between the camera and lens module and the target region is non-orthogonal, has an imaging distance length of about 50 cm to about 70 cm, and has a focal plane in the target region;
- a control unit, electronically coupled to the camera and lens module and configured to receive data from the camera and lens module;
- and
- a user interface, electronically coupled to the control unit and configured to display, transmit, and/or manipulate data received from the camera and lens module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.