Solved

How to find the patent of exact objective lenses part number

  • 12 May 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 105 views

Hi,

Is it possible to find a patent of the exact objective model based on the part number available on the manufacturer’s website? If I find the patent of the objective with the same main parameters ( like NA or magnification) how do I know that this is the exact model I am using?

Regards,

Marzanna

icon

Best answer by David.Nguyen 17 May 2023, 11:19

View original

3 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +2

Hi Marzanna,

 

In my modest experience, you will almost certainly never find the exact objective design unfortunately, and it is in the interest of the manufacturer to make it hard for you to even find the related patent of a known objective lens. And even if you manage to find the patent, the design you’ll find in the patent is probably not the one that has been chosen for the final product.

Patent search is difficult, I found that searching through Google Patents is a good option. I usually use the parameters of the lens such as magnification, NA, working distance, and the manufacturer (Zeiss, Nikon, etc...). Lately, I posted something about a Zeiss 20X lens:

Knowing that Zeiss is a German company, it was likely that the patent was filed to the German register, but that is not always the case. Can you tell me which lens you are looking for? Perhaps I can have a look and see if I can find something relevant.

Take care,

 

David

Hi David,

Thank you for your response. So far I was using paraxial lens instead of the proper objective lens in simulation. But , apart from wanting to genera closer to reality simulation, it is a nice challenge and learning curve of Zemax. 

Objective I am using now is 

https://www.thorlabs.com/thorproduct.cfm?partnumber=N20X-PF

however, the next time it will be a different model. My post on Zemax Community forum is more to learn how others are dealing with it. My though  was that maybe it was  my  Zemax beginner trouble in finding the right patent. 

Regards,

Marzanna

Userlevel 7
Badge +3

Try https://www.lens-designs.com/lens-designs

Reply