CN110045476B

CN110045476B - Optical path adjusting mechanism and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN110045476B
Application number: CN201810041229.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张语宸; 邱汉民; 林维赐; 许圣亚
Original assignee: Young Optics Inc
Current assignee: Young Optics Inc
Priority date: 2018-01-16
Filing date: 2018-01-16
Publication date: 2022-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 2038-01-16
Also published as: CN110045476A

Abstract

An optical path adjusting mechanism comprises a first pair of elastic members, a second pair of elastic members, a frame and a bearing frame. The inner side of the frame is connected with the first pair of elastic pieces, the outer side of the frame is connected with the second pair of elastic pieces, and the frame, the first pair of elastic pieces and the second pair of elastic pieces are integrally formed. The bearing frame is arranged in the frame and is connected with the frame through a first pair of elastic pieces, the optical element is arranged on the bearing frame, and two corresponding ends of the frame are provided with integrally formed bending structures. The invention also provides a manufacturing method of the optical path adjusting mechanism.

Description

Optical path adjusting mechanism and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to an optical path adjusting mechanism.

Background

In recent years, various image display technologies have been widely used in daily life. In an image display device, for example, an optical path adjusting mechanism may be disposed to change the light path of the light traveling in the device, so as to provide various effects, such as improving the imaging resolution and improving the image quality. However, the conventional optical path adjusting mechanism has a large number of components, weight and volume, and is difficult to be further miniaturized. Therefore, there is a need for an optical path adjusting mechanism with simple structure, high reliability and greatly reduced weight and volume.

The background section is provided to facilitate an understanding of the present disclosure, and thus, the disclosure in the background section may include some conventional techniques that do not constitute a part of the common general knowledge of the skilled person. The statements in the "background" section do not represent the contents or problems to be solved by one or more embodiments of the present invention, but are to be understood or appreciated by those skilled in the art before filing the present application.

Disclosure of Invention

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be further understood from the technical features disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical path adjusting mechanism including a first pair of elastic members, a second pair of elastic members, a frame, and a carriage. The inner side of the frame is connected with the first pair of elastic pieces, the outer side of the frame is connected with the second pair of elastic pieces, and the frame, the first pair of elastic pieces and the second pair of elastic pieces are integrally formed. The bearing frame is arranged in the frame and is connected with the frame through a first pair of elastic pieces, the optical element is arranged on the bearing frame, and two corresponding ends of the frame are provided with integrally formed bending structures.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an optical path adjusting mechanism includes an outer frame, a supporting base, and an optical element. The supporting seat is arranged in the outer frame and is connected with the outer frame through the first connecting element and the second connecting element. The optical element is arranged on the supporting seat, and the outer edge of the supporting seat is provided with an integrally formed upward bending structure.

According to the above aspect of the present invention, since a part of the magnetic actuator assembly (e.g. the permanent magnet or the electromagnet) is directly disposed on the supporting base, the overall size, weight or number of components of the optical path adjusting mechanism can be reduced, so that the optical path adjusting mechanism can be advantageously miniaturized or thinned to match with various micro electronic devices, and the magnetic actuator assembly can be designed to be disposed on only one side to further reduce the size and weight and reduce the manufacturing cost. Moreover, the bending structure arranged on the supporting seat can improve the structural strength of the supporting seat so as to reduce the deformation and the axial bearing torque force during actuation, and the natural frequency of the supporting seat can be controlled by adjusting the configuration of the bending structure so as to avoid the resonance phenomenon.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be further understood from the technical features disclosed in the present invention. In order to make the aforementioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical path adjusting mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2A and 2B are side views of the optical path adjustment mechanism of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an optical path adjusting mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A, and 5B are schematic diagrams illustrating the magnetic action of a magnetic actuation assembly.

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of a light path adjustment mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an actuator assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an optical path adjusting mechanism applied to an optical system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9A-9J are schematic views of supporting seat structures according to various embodiments of the invention.

Detailed Description

The foregoing and other technical and scientific aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. Directional terms as referred to in the following examples, for example: up, down, left, right, front or rear, etc., are referred to only in the direction of the attached drawings. Accordingly, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting.

The disclosure in the following embodiments discloses an optical path adjusting mechanism that can be applied to different optical systems (e.g., display devices, projection devices, etc.) to adjust or change the optical path to provide, but not limited to, effects such as improving the imaging resolution, improving the image quality (eliminating dark areas, softening image edges), etc., and the arrangement position and arrangement manner of the optical path adjusting mechanism in the optical system are not limited at all.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical path adjusting mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the optical path adjusting mechanism 100 includes a supporting base 110, an optical element 120, a first pair of elastic members 132, a second pair of elastic members 134, and an outer frame 140. The supporting base 110 includes a frame 112 and a supporting frame 114 disposed in the frame 112, wherein an inner side of the frame 112 is connected to the first pair of elastic members 132, an outer side of the frame 112 is connected to the second pair of elastic members 134, and the supporting frame 114 is disposed in the frame 112 and connected to the frame 112 via the first pair of elastic members 132. Since the outside of the frame 112 of the supporting base 110 is connected to the outer frame 140 by the second pair of elastic members 134, two elastic members of the second pair of elastic members 134 can be a first connecting mechanism 134a and a second connecting mechanism 134b of the supporting base 110 for connecting to the outer frame 140, respectively. The optical element 120 is disposed on the supporting frame 114, and the optical element 120 may be a Lens, for example, and the Lens only needs to provide the effect of deflecting light, and the form and type of the Lens are not limited, and may be a Lens (Lens) or a reflector (Mirror), for example. The two ends of the second pair of elastic members 134 can be connected and fixed to the outer frame 140 by fasteners such as screws or bolts, respectively. The outer edge of the supporting base 110 may be provided with a reinforcing structure, in this embodiment, the reinforcing structure may be a bending structure 116 integrally formed with the supporting base 110, and the bending structure 116 may be bent upward at two corresponding ends of the frame 112, for example. It should be noted that one skilled in the art can understand that the reinforcing structure capable of enhancing the structural strength is not limited to the bending structure, and may be other forms or shapes of reinforcing structures. The bending structure 116 can increase the structural strength of the supporting base 110 to reduce the deformation and the axial torque during operation, and the natural frequency of the supporting base 100 can be controlled by adjusting the configuration of the bending structure 116 to avoid the resonance phenomenon. The shape and distribution of the bending structure 116 are not limited at all, and may be at least one of a bump, a folded edge, a bent corner, a retaining wall, and the like. In an embodiment, the bending structures 116 may be symmetrically distributed on two opposite sides of the supporting base 110 to balance the forces applied to the two sides, but not limited thereto.

FIGS. 9A-9J are schematic views of supporting seat structures according to various embodiments of the invention. The following table shows simulation data of the rotation angle amount and the axial torque force value of the elastic member (coupling mechanism) of various embodiments, in which the numbers 1 to 10 correspond to the supporting seat samples of fig. 9A to 9J, respectively. Comparing a conventional design with a similar but non-bent structure (a reference value is 0.195 degrees of rotation and 4.478N-mm of X-axis torsion), it is clear from the following table that the different bent structure configurations of FIGS. 9A-9J provide the effect of reducing the amount of rotation angle of the elastic member (connection member) and the X-axis torsion, thereby reducing the amount of deformation during operation and increasing the lifetime of the device.

In one embodiment, at least a portion of the support base 110, the first pair of elastic members 132 and the second pair of elastic members 134 may be an integral structure, so as to achieve the effects of reducing the number of parts, simplifying the overall structure and reducing the assembling time. In one embodiment, the frame 112, the carriage 114, the first pair of resilient members 132, and the second pair of resilient members 134 may be integrally formed from the same material (e.g., magnetic material), two of the components may be integrally formed first and then combined with the remaining components, or three of the components may be integrally formed first and then combined with the remaining components. For example, the frame 112 and the bending structure 116 may be integrally formed with the first pair of elastic members 132 and the second pair of elastic members 134 by using the same material (e.g., magnetic material), or the frame 112 and the bending structure 116 may be integrally formed with the first pair of elastic members 132 by using the same material (e.g., magnetic material), without limitation.

Furthermore, referring to fig. 1 again, a magnetic actuating assembly 150 may be disposed below the supporting base 110, in the present embodiment, the magnetic actuating assembly 150 may include, for example,

electromagnets

152, 154, 156, 158 disposed on four sides of the supporting base 110, the

electromagnets

152, 154 may be disposed below two corresponding ends of the supporting frame 114, and the

electromagnets

156, 158 may be disposed below two corresponding ends of the frame 112. As shown in fig. 2A, when the electromagnet 152 is energized, a suction force is generated to attract the carrier 114, and one end (left end, for example) of the carrier 114 is swung downward, and then, as shown in fig. 2B, when the electromagnet 154 is energized, a suction force is generated to attract the carrier 114, and the other end (right end, for example) of the carrier 114 is swung downward, so that when the

electromagnets

152 and 154 are alternately energized, the carrier 114 and the optical element 120 thereon are swung or rotated back and forth about the axial direction (Y-axis direction) of the first pair of elastic members 132 shown in fig. 1. Similarly, as shown in fig. 1, when the electromagnet 156 is energized, one end of the frame 112 can swing downward, and when the electromagnet 158 is energized, the other end of the frame 112 can swing downward, so that when the electromagnets 154 and the electromagnets 156 are alternately energized, the two ends of the frame 112 can swing downward alternately, so that the frame 112 and the optical element 120 thereon can swing or rotate back and forth with the axial direction (X-axis direction) of the second pair of elastic members 134 shown in fig. 1 as an axis. Therefore, the optical element 120 can generate two rotation angle ranges in different axial directions, and swing or rotate to different positions to deflect the incident light to different directions, so as to obtain the effect of adjusting or changing the light path of the light. The light path adjusting mechanism of the embodiment of the invention adjusts or changes the light path, which can generate different effects according to actual requirements, such as increasing projection resolution, improving image quality (eliminating dark areas, softening image edges), and the like without limitation.

With the above-mentioned design of the embodiment, because some structures (such as permanent magnets or electromagnets) of the magnetic actuating set are directly disposed on the supporting base, the overall size, weight or number of components of the optical path adjusting mechanism can be reduced, so that the optical path adjusting mechanism can be miniaturized or thinned to match with various micro electronic devices, and the magnetic actuating set can be designed to be disposed on only one side to further reduce the size and weight and reduce the manufacturing cost. Moreover, the bending structure arranged on the supporting seat can improve the structural strength of the supporting seat so as to reduce the deformation and the axial bearing torque force during actuation, and the natural frequency of the supporting seat can be controlled by adjusting the configuration of the bending structure so as to avoid the resonance phenomenon.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an optical path adjusting mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 3, the magnetic actuating set 150 of the optical path adjusting mechanism 200 includes

electromagnets

152, 154, 156, 158 disposed on four sides of the supporting base 110 and

permanent magnets

162, 164, 166, 168 disposed above the electromagnets. The

electromagnets

152 and 154 and the

permanent magnets

162 and 164 may be disposed below the two corresponding ends of the carrier 114, the

permanent magnets

162 and 164 may be disposed above the two corresponding ends of the carrier 114, the

electromagnets

156 and 158 may be disposed below the two corresponding ends of the frame 112, and the

permanent magnets

166 and 168 may be disposed above the two corresponding ends of the frame 112, but the configuration of the magnetic actuating set 150 is not limited thereto and may be changed according to actual requirements. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 4A, the permanent magnet 162 is disposed on the carriage 114 and has, for example, an S-pole on the left side and an N-pole on the right side, and the left side and the S-pole on the right side of the electromagnet 152 can attract the permanent magnet 162 and move one end of the carriage 114 downward; as shown in fig. 4B, the permanent magnet 164 is disposed on the carrier 114, for example, the left side is S-pole and the right side is N-pole, the left side of the electromagnet 154 is S-pole and the right side is N-pole, which can repel the permanent magnet 164 and move the other end of the carrier 114 upward, and then the

electromagnets

152 and 154 exchange the direction and magnetic polarity of the current I to reverse the carrier 114, so that the carrier 114 and the optical element 120 thereon can oscillate or rotate back and forth with the axial direction (Y-axis direction) of the first pair of elastic members 132 as the axis by alternating. Furthermore, as shown in fig. 5A, the permanent magnet 166 is disposed on the frame 112 and, for example, the left side is the S pole and the right side is the N pole, the left side of the electromagnet 156 is the N pole and the right side is the S pole, which can attract the permanent magnet 166 and move one end of the frame 112 downward; as shown in fig. 5B, the permanent magnet 168 is disposed on the frame 112, for example, the left side is S-pole and the right side is N-pole, the left side of the electromagnet 158 is S-pole and the right side is N-pole, which can repel the permanent magnet 164 and move the other end of the frame 112 upward, and then the

electromagnets

156 and 158 exchange the direction and magnetic polarity of the current I to make the frame 112 operate in the opposite direction, so that the frame 112 and the optical element 120 thereon can oscillate or rotate back and forth with the axial direction (Y-axis direction) of the second pair of elastic members 134 as the axis by alternating. Therefore, the optical element 120 can also generate two rotation angle ranges in different axial directions, and the effect of oscillating or rotating to different positions to deflect the incident light to different directions can be achieved. In the present embodiment, since the optical element 120 is driven by the magnetic attraction force and the magnetic repulsion force which are alternately changed, the force for driving the optical element 120 can be increased, and the swing range and the rotatable angle range of the optical element 120 can be increased. Based on this design, even if only one side has the magnetic actuating set 150, it is still possible to provide a sufficient rotation angle range, for example, as shown in fig. 6, in another embodiment, the

electromagnets

154, 156 and the corresponding

permanent magnets

164, 166 may be omitted, and the optical path adjusting mechanism 300 only uses the electromagnet 152 to alternately attract and repel the permanent magnet 162 to make the carrier 114 and the optical element 120 thereon oscillate or rotate back and forth with the Y-axis direction as the axis center, and only uses the electromagnet 158 to alternately attract and repel the permanent magnet 168 to make the frame 112 and the optical element 120 thereon oscillate or rotate back and forth with the X-axis direction as the axis center, so that the optical path deviation effect in two axial directions can be obtained as well. The weight, volume, and manufacturing cost are reduced by eliminating the

electromagnets

154, 156 and corresponding

permanent magnets

164, 166. In another embodiment, the portion of the supporting base 110 above the diagonal line D where the

electromagnets

154 and 156 and the

permanent magnets

164 and 166 are not disposed may be removed, so as to further reduce the weight, volume and manufacturing cost.

In one embodiment, at least one of the

permanent magnets

162, 164, 166, 168 may be replaced by an air coil, which may be used in combination with the

electromagnets

152, 154, 156, 158 to alternately generate attractive and repulsive forces. Furthermore, as shown in fig. 6, the bending structure 116 may be used to accommodate a portion of the magnetic actuating set 150, such as a permanent magnet, an electromagnet or an air-core coil.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, a piezoelectric element 160 disposed on the supporting base 110 may also be used, and an electric field is applied to the piezoelectric element 160 to generate a compressive or tensile deformation of the piezoelectric element 160, i.e., an electric energy is converted into a mechanical energy to make the supporting base 110 swing back and forth to achieve the effect of adjusting the light path.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an optical path adjusting mechanism applied to an optical system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 8, the optical device 400 includes an illumination system 310, a light valve 320, a projection lens 330, and an optical path adjusting mechanism 100. The illumination system 310 has a light source 312 adapted to provide a light beam 314, and a light valve 320 disposed on a transmission path of the light beam 314. The light valve 320 is adapted to convert the light beam 314 into a plurality of sub-images 314 a. In addition, the projection lens 330 is disposed on the transmission path of the sub-images 314a, and the light valve 320 is located between the illumination system 310 and the projection lens 330. In addition, the optical path adjusting mechanism 100 may be disposed between the light valve 320 and the projection lens 330, for example, between the light valve 320 and the tir prism 319, or between the tir prism 319 and the projection lens 330, and located on the transmission path of the sub-images 314 a. In the above-mentioned optical device 400, the light source 312 may include, for example, a red light emitting diode 312R, a green light emitting diode 312G, and a blue light emitting diode 312B, the color lights emitted by the respective light emitting diodes are combined by a light combining device 316 to form a light beam 314, and the light beam 314 sequentially passes through a light integration rod 317, a lens assembly 318, and a total internal reflection Prism (TIR Prism) 319. The tir prism 319 then reflects the beam 314 to the light valve 320. At this time, the light valve 320 converts the light beam 314 into a plurality of sub-images 314a, and the sub-images 314a sequentially pass through the tir prism 319 and the optical path adjusting mechanism 100, and the projection lens 330 projects the sub-images 314a onto the screen 350. In the present embodiment, when the sub-images 314a pass through the optical path adjusting mechanism 100, the optical path adjusting mechanism 100 changes the transmission paths of part of the sub-images 314 a. That is, the sub-images 314a passing through the optical path adjusting mechanism 100 are projected onto a first position (not shown) on the screen 350, and the sub-images 314a passing through the optical path adjusting mechanism 100 are projected onto a second position (not shown) on the screen 350 within another part of the time, wherein the first position and the second position are different by a fixed distance in a horizontal direction (X axis) or/and a vertical direction (Z axis). In the present embodiment, since the optical path adjusting mechanism 100 can move the imaging positions of the sub-images 314a by a fixed distance in the horizontal direction or/and the vertical direction, the horizontal resolution or/and the vertical resolution of the image can be improved. Of course, the above embodiments are only examples, the optical path adjusting mechanism of the embodiments of the present invention can be applied to different optical systems to obtain different effects, and the arrangement position and the configuration manner of the optical path adjusting mechanism in the optical system are not limited at all.

The connecting member or the elastic member according to various embodiments of the present invention may have a property of being deformed and then being changed in a direction of restoring its original size and shape when an external force is removed, and the material thereof may be, for example, metal or plastic without limitation. Moreover, the outer frame only needs to define an accommodating space, which can have different forms or shapes, and can be, for example, a base without limitation.

The term "optical element" as used herein means an element made of a material that is partially or completely reflective or transmissive, and typically comprises glass or plastic. For example, the optical element may be a lens, a total reflection Prism (TIR Prism), a total reverse reflection Prism set (RTIR Prism), various integrators, various filters, and the like.

The term "Light valve" is used in the industry to refer to the individual optical elements of a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM). A so-called spatial light modulator comprises a number of individual elements (individual optical elements) which are spatially arranged in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array. Each unit can be independently controlled by optical signals or electric signals, and various physical effects (such as Pockels effect, Kerr effect, acousto-optic effect, magneto-optic effect, electro-optic effect of semiconductor, or photorefractive effect) are utilized to change the optical characteristics of the unit, so that the illumination light beams illuminating the independent units are modulated, and image light beams are output. The independent unit can be an optical element such as a micro-mirror or a liquid crystal unit. That is, the light valve may be a Digital Micro-mirror Device (DMD), a Liquid Crystal On Silicon (LCOS) Panel, or a transmissive liquid crystal Panel.

Projectors are devices that project images onto a screen by an optical projection method, and in the Projector industry, generally, projectors are classified into Cathode Ray Tube (Cathode Ray Tube) projectors, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) projectors, Digital Light Projectors (DLP), and Liquid Crystal On Silicon (LCOS) projectors, depending on the Light valves used therein. The projector uses LCOS, DLP and other light valves to display images based on the principle of light reflection, so it is called a reflective projector. In the present embodiment, the projector is a digital light projector, and the light valve 320 is a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD).

Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for any embodiment or claim of the invention to address all of the objects, advantages, or features disclosed herein. Furthermore, the abstract and the title are provided to facilitate patent document searching and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An optical path adjusting mechanism, comprising:

a first pair of elastic members and a second pair of elastic members;

the inner side of the frame is connected with the first pair of elastic pieces, the outer side of the frame is connected with the second pair of elastic pieces, and the frame, the first pair of elastic pieces and the second pair of elastic pieces are integrally formed;

a bearing frame arranged in the frame and connected with the frame by the first pair of elastic pieces; and

the optical element is arranged on the bearing frame;

wherein, the two ends corresponding to the frame are provided with bending structures which are formed in a piece type with the frame.

2. The optical path adjusting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the frame and the carriage constitute a support base, the first pair of elastic members has a first axial direction, the second pair of elastic members has a second axial direction and includes a first connecting member and a second connecting member, and the first axial direction is different from the second axial direction.

3. An optical path adjustment mechanism, comprising:

an outer frame;

a supporting seat arranged in the outer frame and connected with the outer frame by a first connecting part and a second connecting part; and

an optical element arranged on the supporting seat;

wherein the outer edge of the supporting seat is provided with a one-piece type upward bending structure.

4. The optical path adjusting mechanism of claim 3, further comprising a first pair of elastic members having a first axial direction, a second pair of elastic members having a second axial direction and comprising the first connecting means and the second connecting means, and the first axial direction is different from the second axial direction.

5. The optical path adjusting mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bending structure is made of a magnetic material.

6. The optical path adjustment mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the optical path adjustment mechanism further satisfies one of the following conditions: (1) the bending structure is at least one of a bump, a folded edge, a bent angle and a retaining wall, and (2) the bending structure can contain a permanent magnet, an electromagnet or an air-core coil.

7. The optical path adjusting mechanism according to claim 2 or 4, further comprising:

at least one first magnetic actuating set, which is used for making the optical element act by taking the first axial direction as an axis; and

at least one second magnetic actuating set is used for enabling the optical element to act by taking the second axial direction as an axis.

8. The optical path adjusting mechanism of claim 7, wherein the at least one first magnetic actuating set comprises two first magnetic actuating sets respectively disposed on a first side and a second side of the support base, the at least one second magnetic actuating set comprises two second magnetic actuating sets disposed on a third side and a fourth side of the support base, and each of the first magnetic actuating set and the second magnetic actuating set comprises an electromagnet.

9. The optical path adjusting mechanism of claim 7, wherein the at least one first magnetic actuating set and the at least one second magnetic actuating set are respectively disposed on two adjacent sides of the supporting base, and each of the first magnetic actuating set and the second magnetic actuating set comprises a permanent magnet and an electromagnet.

10. A method for manufacturing an optical path adjustment mechanism, comprising:

providing an outer frame; and

the outer frame is provided with a supporting seat and a bending structure formed by the supporting seat in a piece mode, wherein the bending structure is located on the outer edge of the supporting seat, the supporting seat is provided with an optical element and is provided with a first axial direction and a second axial direction which are arranged at an angle, and the optical element can act by taking the first axial direction and the second axial direction as an axis.