Patent ID: 9250367
Filing Date: 2016-02-02
CPC Classification: G02B

Claim Text:
1. A fluidic variable focal length optical lens, comprising: a sealed housing comprising a first fluidic chamber filled with a first fluidic medium and a second fluidic chamber filled with a second fluidic medium, the first and the second fluidic chambers being separated from each other by an elastic membrane, wherein the first and the second fluidic media comprise different refractive indices, wherein the sealed housing includes a lens zone and at least one pump zone, wherein the at least one pump zone covers a first portion of the first fluidic chamber and a first portion of the second fluidic chamber, wherein the lens zone covers a second portion of the first fluidic chamber and a second portion of the second fluidic chamber, wherein the first fluidic chamber comprises a lower support structure arranged to support the elastic membrane at a junction between the at least one pump zone and the lens zone from a first side of the elastic membrane, and wherein the second fluidic chamber comprises an upper support structure arranged to support the elastic membrane at the junction between the at least one pump zone and the lens zone from a second side of the elastic membrane so that the elastic membrane is fixed between the lower support structure and the upper support structure along the junction between the at least one pump zone and the lens zone; a deformator embedded into the first fluidic chamber or the second fluidic chamber and configured to, in an activated state of the deformator, deform the elastic membrane within the at least one pump zone such that the elastic membrane bends towards the first fluidic chamber, thereby laterally displacing the first fluidic medium from the at least one pump zone to the lens zone and the second fluidic medium from the lens zone to the at least one pump zone along a lateral direction across the junction between the at least one pump zone and the lens zone, so that the elastic membrane is deformed in the lens zone by bending towards the second fluidic chamber and changes a focal length of the lens zone along a normal direction; wherein the elastic membrane is fixed between the lower support structure and the upper support structure at the junction between the at least one pump zone and the lens zone such that the elastic membrane rests against the lower support structure and the upper support structure in both the activated state of the deformator and a deactivated state of the deformator; wherein deformable portions of the lens zone and of the at least one pump zone are integrated into the elastic membrane; wherein the deformator is configured as a ring-shaped isotropically deforming actuator extending within the at least one pump zone and the at least one pump zone laterally surrounds the lens zone; wherein the isotropically deforming actuator is electrically activated and comprises one or more electroactive deformable layers, each sandwiched between conductive layers to form a layer stack attached to the elastic membrane via an elastic layer; wherein the one or more electroactive deformable layers are made of an electrostrictive material; wherein the deformation of the one or more electroactive deformable layers is activated by applying an external field between the conductive layers, thereby inducing an electrostrictive effect; wherein, in the electrostrictive effect, the deformation induced by the external field in the electrostrictive material increases quadratically with the electric applied external field; and wherein the deformation induced by the electrostrictive effect occurs isotropically across a plane of the one or more electroactive deformable layers.