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Technical sector

The invention relates to an optical accessory for portable telephones, tablets, and the like of the type provided with integrated camera.

Prior art

Known from the document No. US8279544 is an optical accessory for portable telephones, tablets, and the like that envisages a fixing clip with two side walls connected together by a further wall that covers the two orthogonal sides of a corner of the telephone so that they can be fixed to just one corner thereof.

The system according to US8279544 presents, however, some drawbacks in relation to the use of the accessory in the dental sector, and in particular in order to take photographs of the oral cavity. This system does not in fact enable focusing of the field framed in the dental photograph with the necessary enlargement and at the necessary distance (by way of example, 15- 30 cm) .

Furthermore, the system of US8279544 does not enable a necessary lighting to be obtained in the specific case of dental photographs.

Purpose of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the solutions already known and to propose an optical accessory for portable telephones and the like, dedicated specifically to the collection of photographic images of the oral cavity of a patient.

Summary of the invention

The above purposes have been achieved by providing an accessory according to at least one of the annexed claims.

A first advantage lies in the fact that the accessory of the invention is of small size so that it can be applied to commercial portable telephones, but is able to frame an area sufficiently wide for applications of dental inspection, for example 10 cm, at a filming distance of approximately 15-30 cm.

A second advantage lies in the fact that the accessory is able to illuminate the area framed autonomously, exploiting the LED of the telephone.

A further advantage of the invention lies in the fact that by using at least two lighting points a field without shadows is obtained when taking dental photographs.

List of the drawings

The above and further advantages will be better understood by any person skilled in the branch from the ensuing description and from the annexed drawings, which are provided by way of non- limiting example and in which:

- Figure 1 shows a rear perspective view of the accessory mounted on a smartphone;

- Figure 2 shows a front perspective view of the accessory mounted on a smartphone;

- Figure 3 shows a front elevation of the accessory mounted on a smartphone;

- Figure 4 shows a lateral view from the left of the accessory of Figure 3;

- Figure 5 shows a rear elevation of the accessory mounted on a smartphone;

- Figure 6 shows a lateral view from the right of the accessory of Figure 5;

- Figure 7 shows the cross section C-C of the accessory of Figure 5;

- Figure 8 shows the cross section D-D of the accessory of Figure 5;

- Figure 9 shows the enlarged detail H of the accessory of Figure 8;

- Figure 10 shows the cross section B-B of the accessory of Figure 3;

- Figure 11 is a top plan view of the accessory of Figure 5;

- Figure 12 shows the cross section A-A of the accessory of Figure 11;

- Figure 13 shows the enlarged detail F of the accessory of Figure 12;

- Figure 14 is a schematic illustration of an application of the accessory for dental inspection;

- Figure 15 is a schematic illustration, in top plan view, of a preferred example of the path of sight of an accessory according to the invention;

- Figure 16 is a schematic illustration, in top plan view, of a preferred example of the lighting path of an accessory according to the invention;

- Figure 17a, 17b are schematic illustrations of two different embodiments of a device according to the invention with a lighting system provided with optical fibres;

- Figure 18 shows the cross section B-B of the accessory of Figure 3, in the case of use of optical fibres according to the schematic illustration of Figure 17;

- Figure 19 is a top plan view of the accessory of Figure 5, in the case of use of optical fibres according to the schematic illustration of Figure 17;

- Figure 20 shows the cross section A-A of the accessory of Figure 19;

- Figure 21 shows the enlarged detail F of the accessory of Figure 20; and

- Figure 22 shows a preferred embodiment of a light guide of the lighting path of an accessory according to the invention.

Detailed description

Described with reference to the attached drawings is a preferred embodiment of an optical accessory for portable telephones 1 according to the invention, designed for being applied to smartphones and the like of the type provided with integrated camera 2 and at least one light source 9, typically a monochromatic LED source or a light source of different colours.

The accessory comprises a first attachment section 4 provided with removable attachment means 20, 21 in a unique position with respect to the body of the telephone 1, which are constituted, for example, by a first bracket 20 and a second bracket 21, which are fixed to the section 4, for example by means of screws 27, and are provided with respective mutually orthogonal attachment surfaces designed to overlie orthogonal sides of the telephone 1.

It is, however, understood that the accessory may also be constituted by a single body made of just one piece, for example a block machined by milling, and that even different attachment systems will be possible, provided that they are able to ensure unique positioning of the accessory with respect to the position of the camera and of the light source of the associated telephone.

The attachment section is provided with one or more windows 6, 26 in a proximal position with respect to the telephone, which can be superimposed on the camera and on the light source of the telephone itself. In various embodiments, it will be possible to envisage just one window in common or a number of distinct windows.

Projecting from the attachment section 4 there develops a casing 3 arranged within which are a plurality of lenses 7, for example four or five lenses, distributed along an optical path of sight 5 that extends from the window 6 in a position corresponding to the camera 2 as far as a second distal window 8.

Preferably, provided in the embodiment described are four or five fixed lenses 7, such as to have altogether a distance of the focus from the window 8 of between 15 cm and 30 cm.

The accessory further comprises an optical lighting path 19, preferably contained in the casing 3 and extending in turn from a proximal window 26, applied in front of the light source 9, to a front section 25, which is fixed to the casing 3, for example by means of screws 28, and comprises at least one point of irradiation 10 set in the proximity of the distal window 8.

Preferably, the optical lighting path comprises two irradiation points 10 that are set at a distance from one another and have the purpose, in use, of reducing the areas of shade inside the mouth 11 of the patient (Figure 14) .

In various embodiments, the optical lighting path 19 may comprise a central light guide 13, for example a cylindrical light guide or a hexagonal bar, and two lateral prismatic light guides 12, possibly equipped, at the outlet, with diffuser sheets, capable in succession of guiding the light emitted by the source 9 from the attachment section up to the front part of the device, and guiding it to the lighting points 10.

In a further preferred embodiment, the central guide 13 and the lateral guides 12 may moreover be constituted by a single T-shaped piece.

In a further alternative, represented schematically in Figure 16, the lighting path comprises reflecting and/or half-reflecting mirrors 17, 18 capable of guiding the light from the source 9 to the lighting point or points 10.

In a preferred embodiment, represented schematically in Figures 17-21, the lighting path 19 may comprise a bundle of optical fibres 22, which is arranged like the central light guide 13 already described, and is hence generally set facing the light source 9 and extends up to the front part 25 of the accessory.

Preferably, in the embodiment of Figure 17a, the bundle 22, in its distal part, branches off into two or more branches 23, 24 that perform the function of guiding the light into as many lighting points 10 in the proximity of the window 8 or so as form a ring around the window 8. Figure 17b presents a different embodiment, in which a number of bundles of optical fibres 30 are provided, all extending from the light source 9 as far as into the proximity of the distal window 8 for capturing the images .

In the case where the portable telephone 1 is of the type provided with two light sources 9 of different colour, the accessory of Figures 17-21 may comprise means for mixing the light of different colour to be sent to said lighting points 10, formed for example by a first bundle of optical fibres extending from a first light source, for example a white-light source, to the lighting points 10, and a second bundle of optical fibres extending from the second light source of a colour different from the first, for example red, up to the lighting points 10, so as to form at the distal ends a combined bundle of fibres differently illuminated .

Figure 22 is a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of the lighting path that envisages a two-dimensional light guide 40, substantially shaped like a W with two branches 41, 42 that extend from a central radiusing stretch 43 capable of optically coupling to one or both of the LED sources of the device (for example, to just the white LED, as represented in the figure, if the white LED is sufficiently powerful to achieve the necessary lighting) or else to both if it is preferred to mix the two colours of the LEDs.

Advantageously, with this solution the light exits both from the two branches and from the centre of the radiusing stretch 43, thus obtaining three lighting points, which may be smooth or frosted, two lateral ones and a central one, from which the light of the LED or LEDs 9 exits in parallel rays.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, but it is understood that equivalent modifications may be made, without thereby departing from the sphere of protection granted to the present industrial patent right .