JP2002296430A - Image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image display device which displays an atmospherical image by properly using a narrow optical fiber and a thick optical fiber. SOLUTION: One side tip parts of a plurality of optical fibers 2 are arrayed to form an image input surface 3, the other side tip parts of a plurality of the optical fibers 2 are arrayed to form an image output surface 4, and an image projected on the image input surface 3 is displayed on the image output surface 4. Optical fibers 2a thinner than the optical fibers 2 are arrayed in free spaces produced when the adjacent optical fibers 2 are arrayed on the image input surface 3 so as to be in contact with each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display device using a plurality of optical fibers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an image display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The basic structure is the same. Will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the image display device 1 includes an image input surface 3, an optical fiber 2, an image output surface 4, and an image projector 5. The image output surface 4 is formed on one surface side of the substrate 7 and includes a plurality of pixels 6.
Are arranged vertically and horizontally to form the image output surface 4. The pixel 6 is generally constituted by one end of an optical fiber group 2 composed of a plurality of optical fibers 2 bundled. Here, one end of one optical fiber 2 is connected to one pixel 6.
It is constituted as. Also, by arranging the other ends of the optical fiber groups 2 in a vertical and horizontal manner as described above,
An image input surface 3 is formed. In addition, a liquid crystal display,
An image projector 5 such as a CRT is arranged so as to face the image input surface 3, and the image projector 5 is placed on the image input surface 3.
When the image S, which is the light emitted from the optical fiber 2, is irradiated, the light incident on the other end of each optical fiber 2 is guided to one end of the optical fiber 2 which is the pixel 6, and the image S It is configured to display an image similar to the above. At this time, since the optical fibers 2 as the pixels 6 are arranged coarser than the image input surface 3 on the image output surface 4, the image S is displayed in an enlarged manner.

[0003]

By the way, the image input surface 3 of the conventional image display device 1 is composed of a plurality of optical fibers 2.2 having the same diameter in a certain order (for example, a substantially hexagonal system, a substantially tetragonal system). System, etc.). However, optical fibers 2.2 having the same diameter
When the image input surface 3 is configured using only the optical fibers 2, an empty space (dead space) is generated between the arranged plurality of optical fibers 2, so that there is a problem that the light receiving rate is deteriorated accordingly.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a conventional image display device 1 in which the image output surface 4 is formed as a curved surface. Here, (a) is a partially enlarged view thereof, and (b) is a side sectional view thereof. As shown in the figure, in the case where the image output surface 4 is formed of a curved surface, if the image output surface 4 is composed of only thin optical fibers 2 having the same diameter, particularly in a portion having a large gradient. There is a problem that sufficient mechanical strength cannot be secured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to display a quaint image by appropriately using a thin optical fiber and a thick optical fiber in appropriate places. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image display device capable of performing the above.

[0006]

Accordingly, an image display device according to a first aspect of the present invention forms an image input surface 3 by arranging one ends of a plurality of optical fibers 2.2 and forms a plurality of optical fibers 2. 2 to form an image output surface 4 by arranging the other end,
In the image display device for displaying the image projected on the image input surface 3 on the image output surface 4, the light is stored in an empty space generated when the adjacent optical fibers 2 on the image input surface 3 are arranged so as to be in contact with each other. An optical fiber 2a thinner than the fiber 2 is arranged.

According to the image display device of the first aspect, an optical fiber 2a thinner than the optical fiber 2 is arranged in an empty space of the optical fibers 2.2 arranged so as to be in contact with each other on the image input surface 3. Thus, an interesting image can be displayed. In addition, the light receiving rate on the image input surface 3 can be increased, and the number of pixels on the entire image output surface 4 can be increased, so that the image can be displayed more clearly.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, one end of the plurality of optical fibers is arranged to form an image input surface, and the other end of the plurality of optical fibers is formed. In an image display device in which the image output surface 4 is formed by arranging the image output surface 4 on a curved surface and the image projected on the image input surface 3 is displayed on the curved image output surface 4, the gradient of the curved surface of the image output surface 4 is An optical fiber 2b thicker than the optical fiber 2 arranged in a portion having a small curved surface is arranged in a large portion.

According to the image display device of the second aspect, an optical fiber 2b thicker than the optical fibers 2 arranged in a portion where the gradient of the curved image output surface 4 is large and a portion where the gradient of the curved surface is small is arranged. It is configured to be. As described above, by using the thick optical fiber 2b in the portion where the slope of the curved surface is large, it is possible to display a quaint image, and the mechanical strength of the image output surface 4 as compared with the related art. Can be strengthened.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, specific embodiments of the image display device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of the image display device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the image display device 1 mainly includes an image input surface 3, an optical fiber 2, an image output surface 4, and an image projector 5. In the figure, the image output surface 4 is formed on one surface side of a substantially rectangular substrate 7 and includes a plurality of pixels 6.
The image output surface 4 is configured by arranging 6 in a matrix. The pixel 6 is generally constituted by one end of an optical fiber group 2 composed of a plurality of optical fibers 2 bundled. In this case, the end of one optical fiber 2 is constituted as one pixel 6. are doing. In addition, the optical fiber group 2
The image input surface 3 is formed by arranging the other ends of the two vertically and horizontally in the same manner as described above. Further, an image projector 5 such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT is arranged so as to face the image input surface 3 so as to output an image from a TV broadcast receiver, a video tape reproducing device, a personal computer or the like. It is configured. Thus, when the image S, which is the light emitted from the image projector 5, is irradiated on the image input surface 3, the light incident on the other end of each optical fiber 2 is applied to one end of the optical fiber 2 which is the pixel 6. It is configured to display an image similar to the above-described image S on the image output surface 4 by being guided to the unit. At this time, on the image output surface 4, the optical fiber 2
Are arranged coarser than the image input surface 3, so that the image S
Is displayed enlarged.

Next, a display surface using the optical fiber 2 of the image display device 1 (the image input surface 3,
The configuration of the image output surface 4) will be described. Figure 1
FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views showing the arrangement of a plurality of optical fibers 2 forming an image input surface 3 and an image output surface 4 of the image display device 1. FIGS. Figure 1
As shown in (a), the plurality of optical fibers 2.2 on the image input surface 3 are arranged in a fixed order, that is, in this embodiment, in a substantially hexagonal system. The optical fibers 2a having a smaller diameter are arranged in a vacant space (dead space) generated when the two are arranged so as to be in contact with each other. On the other hand, FIG. 1B shows only the arrangement positions of the optical fibers 2 and 2a of the respective diameters on the image output surface 4, and the circles in the figure indicate the arrangement positions of the thicker optical fibers 2. And triangular marks indicate the arrangement position of the thinner optical fiber 2a.

As described above, the optical fibers 2a having different diameters
The dead space can be reduced and the display density can be increased as compared with the case where only the optical fibers 2 having the same diameter are used. As a result, an interesting image can be displayed. In addition, since the light receiving rate on the image input surface 3 is increased and the number of pixels on the entire image output surface 4 is increased, the image can be displayed more clearly.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing another arrangement method of the optical fibers 2, 2a having different diameters in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) show an image input surface 3 and an image output, respectively. 3 shows an arrangement state of the optical fibers 2 and 2a on the surface 4. In the figure, the optical fibers 2 are arranged in a substantially tetragonal system, and the dead space generated when the adjacent optical fibers 2 are arranged to be in contact with each other on the image input surface 3 is smaller than the dead space. Optical fiber 2a
2a are arranged. In this case, the diameter of the thin optical fiber 2a is slightly larger than the diameter of the thin optical fiber 2a shown in FIG. 1 due to the large dead space, but the same effect as described above can be obtained.

Next, a configuration of a display surface according to a second embodiment of the image display device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIGS. 4A and 4B show an arrangement state of the optical fibers 2 and 2b when the image output surface 4 is formed as a curved surface, and a sectional side view thereof. As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, an optical fiber 2b having a larger diameter is used for a portion having a large gradient on the image output surface 4 than for a portion having a small gradient. by this,
An interesting image can be displayed, and the mechanical strength of the image output surface 4 can be increased as compared with the related art. Further, by using the thick optical fiber 2b also for a portion that does not require a relatively high resolution, such as a peripheral portion on the image output surface 4,
Since the number of the optical fibers 2 and 2b as a whole can be reduced, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost while maintaining sharpness of the image.

As described above, the optical fibers 2 having different diameters
2a, 2b, that is, a thin optical fiber and a thick optical fiber are properly used in appropriate places to form a display surface, so that a quaint image can be displayed and the sharpness of the image can be improved. The manufacturing cost can be reduced while securing the same. In particular, when the display surface is a curved surface, by using the thick optical fiber 2b in a portion having a large gradient, the mechanical strength can be increased as compared with the related art.

Although the specific embodiment of the image display device 1 according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes are made within the scope of the present invention. It is possible to For example, in the first embodiment, the plurality of optical fibers 2 are arranged in a substantially hexagonal system or a substantially tetragonal system, and the optical fibers 2a having a small diameter are arranged in the dead space.
This arrangement method is not limited to this. In each of the above embodiments, the optical fibers 2, 2a, 2
Although the cross-sectional shapes of b are all substantially circular, other cross-sectional shapes may be used.

[0018]

According to the image display apparatus of the first aspect, a quaint image is displayed by arranging an optical fiber thinner than the optical fiber in an empty space of the arranged optical fibers. Can be. In addition, this makes it possible to increase the light receiving rate on the image input surface and increase the number of pixels on the entire image output surface, so that the image can be displayed more clearly.

According to the image display device of the second aspect, by using a thick optical fiber in a portion where the slope of the curved surface is large, it is possible to display a quaint image, and to display a conventional image. Can also increase the mechanical strength of that part.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an arrangement state of optical fibers on an image input surface (a) and an image output surface (b) of an image display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show another arrangement method of the optical fiber in the first embodiment, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing an arrangement state of the optical fiber on an image input surface and an image output surface, respectively. .

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a configuration of an image display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams when an image output surface of an image display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention is formed by a curved surface, FIG. 4A being a partially enlarged view, and FIG. Is shown.

5A and 5B are schematic views of a conventional image display device when an image output surface is formed by a curved surface, wherein FIG. 5A is a partially enlarged view thereof, and FIG. 5B is a side sectional view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image display apparatus 2 Optical fiber 2a Thin optical fiber 2b Thick optical fiber 3 Image input surface 4 Image output surface 5 Image projector 6 Pixel S image

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2H046 AA03 AA32 AB01 AB04 AD13

Claims (2)

[Claims] An image input surface is formed by arranging one ends of a plurality of optical fibers, and the other ends of the plurality of optical fibers are arranged. An image output surface (4), and an image projected on the image input surface (3) is displayed on the image output surface (4). 2
An optical fiber (2) thinner than the optical fiber (2) is provided in an empty space generated when the optical fibers (2) are arranged so as to be in contact with each other.
An image display device, wherein a) is arranged. 2. An image input surface (3) is formed by arranging one ends of a plurality of optical fibers (2.2), and the other end of the plurality of optical fibers (2.2) is curved. An image display device which forms an image output surface (4) and displays an image projected on the image input surface (3) on a curved image output surface (4). An image display device wherein an optical fiber (2b) which is thicker than the optical fiber (2) arranged in a portion where the gradient of the curved surface is small is arranged in a portion where the gradient of the curved surface is large.