Patent ID: 8035681

Claim:
A panoramic imaging device comprising: an optical lens system for collecting light entering in a capture angle of at least 180° so as to form images on a predetermined focal plane; imaging means placed at the focal plane for converting the images formed by the optical lens system to electronic image information; and image reproducing means for subjecting the electronic image information obtained from the imaging means to imaging processing so as to reproduce a panoramic image, wherein the optical lens system comprises: an optical lens array including a center lens having an optical axis and formed on one plane for receiving light entering in a front range in the capture angle, and also including pairs of left and right side lenses formed on the one plane and on left and right sides of the center lens, respectively, and which have optical axes parallel to that of the center lens, so as to respectively receive lights entering in left and right ranges in the capture angle, which are divided into pairs of left and right ranges such that the pairs of left and right side lenses receive lights entering in the divided pairs of the left and right ranges, respectively; and prisms placed on a light entrance side of the side lenses for bending and collecting the lights entering in the divided pairs of the left and right ranges in the capture angle for the side lenses to receive, so as to guide and direct the lights to, and along the optical axes of, the side lenses, respectively; wherein the imaging means is formed of a photodetector array placed at a predetermined distance from, and in parallel to, the optical lens array for capturing an image formed by the center lens and images formed by the left and right side lenses; and wherein the image reproducing means combines the image formed by the center lens in the front range in the capture angle with the images respectively formed by the pairs of left and right side lenses in the divided pairs of left and right ranges in the capture angle so as to reproduce a panoramic image with a picture angle of at least 180°; and wherein each of the lights received by the center lens and the side lenses is light entering in a range smaller than approximately 60° in the capture angle of at least 180°.