Patent ID: 7564478

Claim:
Apparatus for capturing an object scene, including a roll-pitch imaging optical system ( 30 ) which is pivotable at precisely two degrees of freedom relative to a structure ( 10 ) and a detector ( 86 ) which is fixed with respect to the structure and on which an image of the object scene is produced by the imaging optical system ( 30 ), wherein (a) the imaging optical system ( 30 ) includes a system portion ( 28 ) facing the object scene which is directly pivotable with a pitch frame ( 24 ) about a pitch axis ( 26 ) perpendicular to a roll axis ( 18 ) over a range of at least +/−90° relative to said roll axis ( 18 ), (b) the pitch frame ( 24 ) is supported pivotably about the pitch axis ( 26 ) in a roll frame ( 16 ) which is supported rotatably for rotation over a range of 360° about the roll axis ( 18 ) in the structure ( 10 ), (c) the system portion ( 28 ) includes first beam deflection means by which the imaging beam path of the imaging optical system ( 30 ) is deflectable in a direction along the pitch axis ( 26 ), (d) the imaging optical system ( 30 ) further includes second beam deflection means ( 52 ) which are rotatable with the roll frame ( 16 ) and by which the deflected beam path of the first beam deflection means is picked up along the pitch axis ( 26 ) and deflected in the direction of the roll axis ( 18 ), and (e) the detector ( 86 ) is arranged on the roll axis ( 18 ).