JP2001350071A - Supporting device for optical element - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exactly position and support liquid crystal panels to a prism device for color synthesis of a liquid crystal projector unit. SOLUTION: Upper and lower support member 33 and 34 provided projectingly with pin parts 33b and 34d are fixed to upper and lower prism holders 31 and 32 of a prism body 12. Liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg and LCb are fixed to a liquid crystal fixing plate 35, provided with cylindrical pin receiving parts 41. Plural slits 44 are respectively formed at the respective pin receiving parts 41. The pin parts 33b and 34d are inserted into the pin receiving parts 41, and after the positions of the liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg and LCb are adjusted, UV-curing resins are packed into the pin receiving parts 41, to fix the pint receiving parts 41 and the pin parts 33b and 34d. Even if the UV- curing resin is shrunk nonuniformly at curing, stresses will be absorbed in the segments adjacent to the slits 44, and the displace in positioning of the pin receiving parts 41 and the pin parts 33b and 34d are suppressed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for supporting an optical element for positioning and supporting a liquid crystal panel used in a liquid crystal projector, for example, on a prism device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, illumination light from an illumination light source is separated into three color lights of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) by color separation means using a dichroic mirror or the like. Each of the separated color lights is light-modulated by a liquid crystal panel driven corresponding to a desired image, and the light-modulated color lights are combined by a color combining prism, and the combined light is projected by a projection optical system to obtain a desired light. 2. Related Art A liquid crystal projector device that displays a projection image on a projection surface is known.

The color synthesizing prism of this liquid crystal projector is also called a dichroic prism, and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape in which two dichroic surfaces are arranged orthogonal to each other. The rear surface is an exit surface for emitting the combined light. And this color synthesis prism is held by a block-shaped prism holder made of resin on the upper and lower surfaces,
Via these prism holders, it is fixed to the housing side of the liquid crystal projector device. Further, an optical element such as a liquid crystal panel is attached to each of the incident surfaces via these prism holders.

[0004] These liquid crystal panels need to be accurately positioned and mounted so that the pixels correspond to each other. A fixed pin to which the liquid crystal panel is mounted is provided with a cylindrical pin receiving portion, and a liquid crystal panel is provided on the prism device side. A pin is inserted from the fixed support member into the pin receiving portion, and the pin receiving portion is filled with an adhesive in a state where the position of the fixing plate is adjusted and pixels of three liquid crystal panels are aligned. Curing arrangements are known.

[0005]

However, in the conventional configuration in which the pin receiving portion is filled with an adhesive and cured together with the pin portion as described above, if the adhesive changes in volume when the adhesive is cured, A different stress is generated between the pin receiving portion and the pin portion depending on the location, the fixing plate moves from a desired position, and there is a problem that a pixel shift occurs even if pixel alignment is performed before the adhesive is cured. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and suppresses the influence of volume change when a filler is cured.
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical element support device that can accurately position and support an optical element.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical element supporting apparatus for supporting an optical element on a member to be mounted, comprising a pin fixed to the member. A support member provided, an element mounting portion to which the optical element is mounted, and an element support member provided with a substantially cylindrical pin receiving portion provided with an insertion space in which the pin portion is disposed inside; A filler which is filled and cured, and wherein the pin receiving portion is provided with a non-fixed portion to which the filler is not fixed.

In this configuration, the pin portion is inserted into the insertion space of the pin receiving portion, and the insertion space is filled with a filler and cured in a state where the element supporting member to which the optical element is attached is positioned. The optical element is positioned and supported by the mounted member. The stress caused by the change in volume when the filler cures is absorbed and reduced by the change in volume of the portion facing the non-fixed portion. Therefore, even when there is an uneven volume change when the filler cures, the relative movement of the pin receiving portion with respect to the pin portion is suppressed, and the optical element is accurately positioned and supported.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical element supporting device according to the first aspect, wherein the non-fixed portion is a slit.

In this configuration, the non-fixed portion is formed with a simple configuration, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical element supporting device according to the first or second aspect, wherein a plurality of non-fixed portions are provided at predetermined intervals on an inner peripheral surface of the pin receiving portion. It is.

In this configuration, the stress caused by the volume change when the filler is cured is uniformly reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical element supporting apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the filler is an ultraviolet curable resin.

In this structure, the ultraviolet curable resin enables the assembling work with good workability, and suppresses the relative movement of the pin receiving portion with respect to the pin portion due to uneven shrinkage during curing of the ultraviolet curable resin. The optical element is accurately positioned and supported.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical element supporting device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the optical element is a liquid crystal panel, and the member to be mounted is a prism device. .

In this configuration, the liquid crystal panel is accurately positioned and attached to the prism device, and pixel shift is suppressed, thereby improving display quality.

[0017]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an optical element supporting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a prism unit. The prism unit 11 includes a prism device 14 as a member to be mounted having a prism body 12, and three sets of support members mounted on the prism device 14. Device 15 and a liquid crystal panel LC as an optical element supported by the support device 15
r, LCg and LCb.

The prism unit 11 is used for a liquid crystal projector device, which is a projector (not shown). The liquid crystal projector device includes a light source, an integrator optical system, polarization generating means, First and second dichroic mirrors as color separation means, three liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, LCb as display panels as modulation means, a prism unit 11 as color synthesis means, and other lenses and reflecting mirrors. An optical system, a cooling unit such as an air cooling fan, a projection optical system, a control circuit, an operation unit, a power supply device, and the like are housed or attached.

The white light emitted from a light source such as an incandescent lamp or a discharge lamp is split into a large number of light beams by an integrator optical system, and the polarization directions are aligned by polarization generating means. And red with the first and second dichroic mirrors
The light is separated into three color lights of (R), green (G), and blue (B), and enters the liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, and LCb, respectively. Then, each of the liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, and LCb modulates the light according to the image signal.
And are color-combined. Then, the combined light emitted from the prism body 12 is enlarged by the projection optical system, and a color image is displayed on a screen.

The prism body 12 is also called a color combining prism, a cross prism, a dichroic prism, or the like. Four prismatic right-angle prisms having translucency are bonded together with their right-angle surfaces facing each other. It is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape. A dielectric multilayer film, which is an optical film having predetermined optical characteristics, is formed on the right-angled surfaces of these right-angle prisms, and reflects the red light and transmits the blue light and the green light with the right-angled surfaces bonded together. And a dichroic surface Db having a characteristic of reflecting blue light and transmitting red light and green light is formed so as to be orthogonal to each other. A green light incident surface Ig, which is a prism surface, is formed on the front surface opposite to both of these dichroic surfaces Dr, Db, and a red light, which is a prism surface, is formed on both sides around the green light incident surface Ig. A surface Ir and a blue light incident surface Ib as a prism surface are formed, and a combined light emitting surface O as a prism surface is formed on the rear surface. Further, upper and lower end surfaces orthogonal to the incident surfaces Ig, Ir, Ib and the combined light emitting surface O are an upper mounting surface 12a and a lower mounting surface 12b as mounting surfaces.

Each of the liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, LCb has the same shape and a rectangular plate-like panel body 21 for modulating light passing therethrough, and a resin-made panel frame surrounding the panel body 21.
22. And in the four corners of the panel frame 22,
A panel-side mounting hole 25 into which a screw 24 as fixing means for fixing the panel is inserted is formed. Furthermore, the panel frame 22
A flexible board 26 electrically connected to the panel body 21 is led out from the upper side.

Then, the prism device 14 is
An upper prism holder 31 and a lower prism holder 32 as a holder body are fixedly attached to the upper and lower sides.

In the following, each incidence surface Ig,
The side toward the center from Ir and Ib is described as inside, and the inside opposite to the outside is described as outside.

The upper prism holder 31 is formed by integrally embedding a metal nut in a block-shaped synthetic resin as appropriate, and forms a substrate portion 31a having substantially the same shape as the upper mounting surface 12a of the prism body 12. From the substrate portion 31a, each incident surface Ig,
A pair of protruding pieces 31b, 31b, 31c, 31c that protrude outside Ir, Ib on both sides and front and rear, and a pair of protruding pieces 31d, 31d protruding out of the combined light emitting surface O are formed integrally. Is formed. And beneath each protruding piece 31b, 31c, 31d,
For example, below the protruding pieces 31b, 31c, 31d protruding toward the red light incident surface Ir and the synthetic light emitting surface O, positioning portions such as plate-like protruding downwards are formed. In a state where the upper prism holder 31 is positioned in contact with the incident surface Ir and the combined light emitting surface O, the upper prism holder 31 is sandwiched by the ultraviolet (UV) curable resin applied to the lower surface of the substrate portion 31a.
The upper prism holder 31 is fixedly attached to the upper mounting surface 12a by pressing the upper mounting surface 12a and pressing the lower mounting surface 12b with ultraviolet rays to cure the ultraviolet curing resin. On the upper surface of the upper prism holder 31, one or a plurality of mounting holes 31e, which are screw holes, are formed on the protruding pieces 31b, 31b, 31c, 31c, respectively.
Located at the top, along the entrance surfaces Ig, Ir, Ib
31f is formed to project in a columnar shape or the like. further,
In the substrate portion 31a of the upper prism holder 31, light transmitting portions 31v that transmit light such as substantially circular holes are formed at three places.

On the other hand, the lower prism holder 32 is formed by appropriately embedding a metal nut in a block-shaped synthetic resin as appropriate, and forms a substrate portion 32a having substantially the same shape as the lower mounting surface 12b of the prism body 12. It has. Then, this substrate part 32a
A pair of protruding pieces 32b, 32c protruding from the one side and the rear side toward the blue light incidence surface Ib and the combined light emission surface O, respectively.
Are protruded integrally. And these projecting pieces 32b, 3
From the tip of 2c, a plate-shaped positioning portion projects upward and protrudes, and in a state where these positioning portions are positioned in contact with the blue light incident surface Ib and the synthetic light emitting surface O, the upper surface of the substrate portion 32a is positioned. The lower prism holder 32 is attached to the lower mounting surface of the prism body 12 with the ultraviolet (UV) curable resin applied to a predetermined position therebetween.
12b, and furthermore, the light transmitting portion 3 of the upper prism holder 31
Ultraviolet rays are irradiated from the upper mounting surface 12a via 1v to cure the ultraviolet curable resin, and the lower prism holder 32 is fixedly attached to the lower mounting surface 12b. Further, the substrate part 32a
Mounting holes, which are screw holes, on both sides and the front side of
32e are formed in pairs and the positioning part 3
2f is formed to protrude in a columnar shape or the like.

Each support device 15 includes an upper support member 33 and a lower support member 34 as support members, a liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35 as an element support member, and a plurality of screws 38 as fixing means. It is configured.

Each of the upper support member 33 and the lower support member 34 can be called a liquid crystal panel fixing plate support member, and is formed of a metal plate material, that is, a sheet metal.

Each of the upper support members 33 is provided with a corresponding one of the incident surfaces I.
Along the upper edge of g, Ir, Ib, the upper prism holder 31
And a substantially U-shaped substrate portion 33a which is arranged to be overlapped on the upper side. From both ends of the substrate portion 33a, pin portions 33b, which are pin-shaped protrusions projecting horizontally outward, that is, substantially perpendicularly to the incident surfaces Ig, Ir, and Ib, are provided. . It should be noted that the pin portion 33b may be formed in a columnar shape or an elongated plate shape. Further, a pair of circular mounting holes 33c and a pair of positioning receiving portions 33d are formed in the substrate portion 33a of the upper support member 33, respectively.

Each of the upper support members 33 is positioned by fitting the positioning receiving portion 33d to the positioning portion 31f of the upper prism holder 31, and the screws 3 inserted from above into the mounting holes 33c.
8 is screwed into a mounting hole 31e of the upper prism holder 31, and is fixed to the upper prism holder 31.

On the other hand, each lower supporting member 34 is connected to each of the incident surfaces Ig,
A substantially trapezoidal substrate portion 34a disposed along the lower edges of Ir and Ib and arranged horizontally, and a lower prism holder 32 bent upward from the base end of the substrate portion 34a And a mounting plate portion 34b that is overlapped on the front and side surfaces of the mounting plate 34b. The arms 34c are bent upward from both sides of the distal end portion of the substrate portion 34a, and further horizontally outward from the upper ends of the arms 34c, that is, each of the incident surfaces Ig, Ir, Ib
The pin portion is a pin-shaped protrusion that projects substantially perpendicular to the
34d is protruding. Note that the pin portion 34d may be formed in a columnar shape or an elongated plate shape. The mounting plate 34b of the lower support member 34 is formed with a pair of circular mounting holes 34e and a pair of positioning receiving portions 34f. Further, a rectangular opening 34g is formed in the substrate portion 33a of the lower support member 34.

Each lower supporting member 34 is positioned by fitting a positioning receiving portion 34f into a positioning portion 32f of the lower prism holder 32, and a screw 38 inserted from the outside into each mounting hole 34e is positioned on the lower side. Screw into the mounting hole 32e of the prism holder 32,
It is fixed to the lower prism holder 32.

Then, the upper and lower support members 33 and 34 are fixed to the prism device 14 as described above, thereby forming a prism-side semi-finished product.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, each liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35 is formed by drawing a metal plate material, that is, a sheet metal, and faces each of the incident surfaces Ig, Ir, and Ib. A vertical substrate portion 35a is provided, and a display opening 35b through which color light passes is formed at a substantially central portion of the substrate portion 35a. Also, both side portions of the substrate portion 35a are bent outward except for the upper end portion to form a side plate portion 35c, and further bent horizontally with the substrate portion 35a to form a pair of side piece portions 35d. I have. Further, the substrate portion 35a of each liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35 is located near the four corners of the display opening 35b,
A screw hole 35e is formed as an element mounting portion. Furthermore, engaging portions 35f, 35g, 35h, and 35i, which are through holes or cutouts of an appropriate shape, are formed in the substrate portion 35a and the side piece portion 35d, so that a jig for position adjustment or another Used when mounting members.

Further, each of the liquid crystal panel fixing plates 35 has a pin located near the four corners, that is, on both sides of the upper end of the substrate portion 35a and the lower end of each side piece 35d. Receiving part 4
1 is formed. Each pin receiving portion 41 can be called a cylindrical portion or a stud, and is formed in a cylindrical shape such as a substantially cylindrical shape protruding outward, and the inside of the pin receiving portion 41 is a liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35. And a hollow insertion space 42 penetrating through. Further, in each of the pin receiving portions 41, four slits 44, which are linear grooves as non-fixed portions, are formed at predetermined intervals over the entire length along the axial direction of the cylinder.

Each of the liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, LCb is
A screw 24 inserted into the panel-side mounting hole 25 is screwed into the screw hole 35e and fixed to each liquid-crystal-panel fixing plate 35. Is configured.

The mounting operation of positioning and fixing the three panel-side semi-finished products thus constructed simultaneously or sequentially to three sides of the prism-side semi-finished product first involves fixing the liquid crystal panel of the panel-side semi-finished product. The pin portion 33b protruding from the prism body 12 side of the semi-finished product on the prism side is inserted into the insertion space 42 in the pin receiving portion 41 of the plate 35, and the position of the liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35 is adjusted. That is, the pixels of the three liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, and LCb are aligned. Next, while holding the position of each liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35, the insertion space 42 is filled with an ultraviolet curable resin 50, which is an adhesive as a filler, and cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays to the pin receiving portion 41. On the other hand, the pin portions 33b, that is, the respective liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg,
LCb is accurately positioned and supported, and prism unit 1
1 is configured.

The prism unit 11 configured as described above is fixed to a housing of the liquid crystal projector by a screw (not shown) screwed into a mounting hole provided on the lower surface of the lower prism holder 32. Then, in this state, red (R) and green light transmitted through the liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, and LCb are used.
(G) and blue (B) color light are incident on each of the incident surfaces Ir, Ig, and Ib of the prism body 12 via polarizing plates arranged as necessary, and are selected by the dichroic surfaces Dr and Db. The reflected light and the combined light are emitted from the combined light emission surface O toward the projection lens.

When the ultraviolet curable resin 50 filled between the pin receiving portion 41 and the pin portion 33b is cured, it is ideally cured without a volume change or contracted by a uniform volume change. The uniform stress acts between the pin receiving portion 41 and the pin portion 33b, and there is no change in the position between the pin receiving portion 41 and the pin portion 33b. ,
Each part cures with an uneven volume change, and with this volume change, the pin receiving portion 41 and the pin portion 33b are deviated, and even if the pixels are aligned before the ultraviolet curing resin 50 is cured, the pixel misalignment occurs. May occur.

In this regard, according to the present embodiment, the structure of the pin receiving portion 41 of the liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35 is different from that of the pin receiving portion 41.
In addition, because the slits 44 to which the ultraviolet curable resin 50 does not adhere are formed, when the ultraviolet curable resin 50 cures and contracts,
The degree of freedom of deformation is increased at a portion facing the slit 44 which is a deformation permitting portion. Therefore, the stress that tends to deform the positional relationship between the pin receiving portion 41 and the pin portion 33b due to shrinkage, which is a change in volume of the ultraviolet curable resin 50, is reduced by absorbing the so-called stress, so that the pin receiving portion 41 and the pin portion 33b Relative deviation can be suppressed.

As described above, according to the prism unit 11 of the present embodiment, each of the liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, LCb can be accurately positioned and supported with respect to the prism body 12 of the prism device 14, and the pixel shift can be achieved. The quality of an image can be improved by suppressing such factors.

Further, as the filler, an adhesive having a non-uniform volume change can be used, and the characteristics of the adhesive can be used to reduce the manufacturing cost or to firmly fix the adhesive.

The structure of the pin receiving portion of the liquid crystal panel fixing plate, which is an element mounting member, is not limited to the above, and may be formed by fixing a separate member to the substrate portion. In addition, a slit as a non-fixed portion may be formed in a shape of four linear grooves, and a plurality of configurations in which the filler is not fixed may be formed at appropriate intervals and shapes.

The liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35 and the supporting member 33
Can be formed by drawing a metal plate material, that is, a sheet metal, or by using a resin material.

The prism holder is not limited to resin, but may be formed of a metal plate or the like.

The filler is not limited to the ultraviolet curable resin 50, and other adhesives and the like can be used.

Further, the members constituting the prism unit 11 are integrally formed, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. For example, the upper and lower support members may be formed integrally with the upper and lower prism holders.

Further, between the liquid crystal panels LCr, LCg, LCb and the liquid crystal panel fixing plate 35, a liquid crystal panel mask, which is a mask member and is a resin plate material, can be arranged.

Each of the entrance surfaces Ir, Ig, Ib of the prism body 12
Is not limited to the above, and for example, the positions of the red light incident surface Ir and the blue light incident surface Ib can be reversed.

The projector can have various configurations. For example, the display panel is not limited to a liquid crystal panel, and may use another device.

[0051]

According to the optical element support device of the first aspect, the insertion space is filled in a state where the pin portion is inserted into the insertion space of the pin receiving portion and the element support member to which the optical element is mounted is positioned. By filling and curing the agent, the optical element can be positioned and supported on the mounted member. The stress caused by the change in volume when the filler cures can be absorbed and reduced by the change in volume of the portion facing the non-fixed portion. Therefore, even when there is an uneven volume change when the filler cures,
The relative movement of the pin receiving portion with respect to the pin portion can be suppressed, and the optical element can be accurately positioned and supported.

According to the optical element support device of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, since the non-fixed portion is a slit, the non-fixed portion can be formed with a simple configuration, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. .

According to the device for supporting an optical element of the third aspect, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect, since a plurality of non-fixed portions are provided at predetermined intervals on the inner peripheral surface of the pin receiving portion, the filler can be filled. Stress due to volume change during curing can be uniformly reduced.

According to the optical element supporting device of the fourth aspect, in addition to the effects of the first to third aspects, since the ultraviolet curable resin is used as the filler, the assembling work with good workability is realized by the ultraviolet curable resin. In addition, the relative movement of the pin receiving portion with respect to the pin portion due to uneven contraction during curing of the ultraviolet curable resin can be suppressed, and the optical element can be accurately positioned and supported.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first to fourth aspects, the liquid crystal panel as the optical element is accurately positioned with respect to the prism device as the mounting member. The display quality can be improved by suppressing pixel shift.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical element support device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a fixing portion between a pin receiving portion and a pin portion of the support device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a liquid crystal panel fixing plate of the support device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a liquid crystal panel fixing plate of the support device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a liquid crystal panel fixing plate of the supporting device.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a liquid crystal panel fixing plate of the support device.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a liquid crystal panel fixing plate of the support device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Prism device as attachment member 15 Support device 33 Upper support member as support member 33b Pin portion 34 Lower support member as support member 35 Liquid crystal panel fixing plate as element support member 35e Screw hole 41 as element attachment portion 41 pin Receiving part 42 Insertion space 44 Slit as non-fixing part 50 UV curable resin as filler LCr, LCg, LCb Liquid crystal panel as optical element

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An optical element support device for supporting an optical element on a member to be mounted, comprising: a support member having a pin fixed to the member to be mounted; an element mounting part to which the optical element is mounted; And an element support member provided with a substantially cylindrical pin receiving portion provided with an insertion space in which the pin portion is disposed inside, and a filler which fills and hardens the insertion space. An optical element support device, wherein a non-fixed portion to which the filler is not fixed is provided in the portion. 2. The supporting device for an optical element according to claim 1, wherein the non-fixed portion is a slit. 3. A plurality of non-fixed portions are provided at predetermined intervals on an inner peripheral surface of a pin receiving portion.
A device for supporting an optical element as described. 4. The optical element supporting device according to claim 1, wherein the filler is an ultraviolet curable resin. 5. The optical element supporting device according to claim 1, wherein the optical element is a liquid crystal panel, and the attached member is a prism device.