Patent ID: 7340382

Claim:
A lens array generation apparatus comprising: an input section that inputs a first unit vector and a second unit vector that are linearly independent of one another on an arbitrary plane, the first unit vector having a horizontal component greater than the second unit vector; a storage section that stores the input two unit vectors; an arithmetic section that calculates an arrangement of lenses on the lens array by using the two unit vectors; a lens pattern output section connected to the arithmetic section; and a lens array generator connected to the lens pattern output section, wherein: the arithmetic section is capable of calculating the two unit vectors; the arithmetic section performs generation so that the horizontal component of the first unit vector is within a range in magnitude from at least one times to at most two times a vertical component of the second unit vector; center position information and a curvature radius value of a respective lens that have been calculated in the arithmetic section are input to the lens pattern output section; and the lens array generator generates the lens array in accordance with the center position information and the curvature radius value of the respective lens.