Patent ID: 8783904

Claim:
A multi-beam illumination system for providing an illumination image, the multi-beam illumination system comprising: a plurality of light sources with collimating optics, arranged to generate a plurality of light beams; a panel, arranged downstream of the plurality of light sources with collimating optics, the panel comprising a plurality of panel segments in a panel plane; wherein the plurality of panel segments comprises at least 4 panel segments; wherein each panel segment of the plurality of panel segments is arranged to contain a respective segment pattern of a plurality of segment patterns; and wherein the plurality of light sources with collimating optics are arranged to illuminate the plurality of panel segments; an imaging lens array, arranged downstream of the panel, the imaging lens array comprising a plurality of imaging lenses in an imaging lens plane arranged parallel to the panel plane at a first distance from the panel plane; wherein each imaging lens of the plurality of imaging lenses is arranged to image a corresponding segment pattern of the plurality of segment patterns into a respective projection image of a plurality of projection images projected by the imaging lens array, and wherein the plurality of projection images overlap at a predetermined image distance from the imaging lens plane forming the illumination image.