Patent ID: 8231228
Filing Date: 2012-07-31
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An illumination device for illuminating the surface of an object, comprising a source adapted to emit a source beam, a first array of microlenses intercepting said source beam and configured to partition said source beam into a plurality of illumination sub-beams, and a second and a third array of microlenses wherein: said second array of microlenses is configured so that each of its microlenses images a microlens of the first array onto a microlens of the third array, wherein these three microlenses have a common optical axis and are thereby associated, the distance between said first array of microlenses and said second array of microlenses is equal to the focal length of the microlenses of the first array of microlenses, the distance between said second array of microlenses and said third array of microlenses is equal to the focal length of the microlenses of the third array of microlenses, and wherein said device further comprises: an array of microdiaphragms with a modulable aperture, each microdiaphragm of this array being centered on the common optical axis of a group of three associated microlenses and positioned in proximity to the microlens of the second array of this group, an optical relay system which is arranged between the third array of microlenses and the object to be illuminated, and which is adapted to image each of the microlenses of the third array onto a different surface elements of said object.