JP2007086119A - Projection lens mechanism and projector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lens mechanism capable of easily attaining the thickness reduction of a projector. <P>SOLUTION: The projector 100 includes: a light source; a light source side optical system; a display element; a projection side optical system; a cooling fan; further, a lamp power supply circuit; and a projector control means. The projection side optical system is constituted so that a D-shaped lens with a notched lower end is used as a first lens group on an exit side, and the first lens group is made movable in a vertical direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a projector device that projects an image based on image information such as a video signal, and more particularly to a projection lens mechanism of a projector.

Today, video projectors are widely used as image projection apparatuses for projecting personal computer screens and video images onto a screen.
This projector uses a high-intensity light source, and a lamp unit in which a concave reflecting mirror as a reflector is attached to a small high-intensity discharge lamp such as a metal highland lamp or an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp is incorporated in the projector as a projector light source device. There are many cases.

  In this lamp unit, a rotating parabolic reflector or a rotating ellipsoidal reflector is often used. A high-intensity discharge lamp is installed at the elliptical focal point of the reflector and emitted toward the front and rear. The reflected light is reflected by the rotating parabola or the ellipsoidal reflector and condensed on the light tunnel or light guide rod.

  Then, light from a light source device incorporating a high-intensity discharge lamp such as an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp is sequentially converted into red, green, and blue light using a red filter, a green filter, and a blue filter. The amount of light in an on-state that is allowed to pass through a light guide rod, etc., and then is condensed by a lens onto a micromirror display element generally called DMD and reflected toward the projection port of the projector device by the display element To display a color image on the screen.

  Also, with this projector, various settings such as screen size, brightness, and hue can be performed by operating the key switch provided on the top panel of the projector body or by operating the switch of the remote controller. Therefore, it is possible to project a beautiful image according to the user's preference.

  Adjustment settings such as brightness, hue, and contrast can be adjusted by operating the key switch on the main unit or the key switch of the remote controller, projecting the menu screen on the screen, and projecting and displaying various parameters. Setting operation can be performed while checking.

  In addition, a projection lens group having a zoom function is arranged between the micromirror display element and the projection port, so that the size and focus of the image projected on the screen can be adjusted, and the distance to the screen is constant. Also, it is possible to project an image that fits the size of the screen onto the screen.

Further, in a projector using a micromirror display element, the optical axis of the on-state light beam reflected by the micromirror is not perpendicular to the display element surface, and the optical axis of the projection lens group is shifted from the normal line of the micromirror display element. In this case, it has been proposed that the projection lens group is raised when the projector is operated, and the projector lens group is lowered when the projector is housed to make the projector thinner (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-107062 A

  As described above, in a lens group having a zoom function, the diameter of the exit-side lens is larger than that of the entrance-side lens, and the thickness of the front side of the projector provided with the projection aperture is larger than the diameter of the exit-side lens. Therefore, it has been difficult to reduce the thickness of the projector while maintaining a bright projected image.

Further, the mechanism for raising and lowering the entire projection lens group in order to make the projector thin has a problem that the movement mechanism becomes complicated because the whole lens group having a zoom function is moved.
The present invention eliminates the above-described drawbacks and provides a lens mechanism that can easily reduce the thickness of the projector.

According to the present invention, in a projection lens composed of a plurality of lens groups, at least one lens in the first lens group (251) on the enlargement side uses a D-type lens with a lower end cut off. The group (251) can be moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
The lens of the first lens group (251) is preferably provided with a notch at the upper end as well as the lower end. Further, the projection lens is a first lens group on the magnifying side as a front-group fixed projection lens. More preferably, (251) is a lens that performs focusing and zooming by moving the intermediate lens group in the direction of the optical axis (263) while being fixed in the direction of the optical axis.

  The present invention also includes a light source device (210), a light source side optical system (220), a display element (230), a projection side optical system (250), a cooling fan (190), a lamp power supply circuit (261), A projector (100) having a projector control means (267) in a case, wherein the projection-side optical system (250) has at least one lens cut out at one end as a first lens group (251) on the enlargement side. The first lens group (251) can be moved in the vertical direction, which is the thickness direction of the case.

  The projection-side optical system (250) has its optical axis (263) removed from the center of the display element (230), and at least one lens of the first lens group (251) of the projection-side optical system (250). Is preferably provided with a notch at the peripheral edge on the opposite side together with one end, and the projection side optical system (250) is a front group fixed lens group.

  The projection lens according to the present invention uses a D-type lens with a lower end cut out as the first lens group, and allows the first lens group to move in the vertical direction intersecting the optical axis. Thus, the height of the first lens group can be reduced, and the diameter of the entire projection lens can be reduced.

In addition, by using an inner focus and inner zoom projection lens with the first lens group fixed, it is easy to make the vertical movement mechanism of the first lens group a simple, accurate, and durable mechanism.
In addition, a projector using this projection lens for the projection-side optical system can easily reduce the thickness of the projector and can also be a durable projector.

  The best embodiment of the present invention is a projector 100 including a light source device 210, a light source side optical system 220, a display element 230, a projection side optical system 250, a cooling fan 190, and a lamp power supply circuit 261 and a projector control means 267. The optical axis 263 of the projection-side optical system 250 and the center of the display element 230 are shifted optical systems, the projection-side optical system 250 is composed of a plurality of lens groups, and the front-group fixed inner focus and An inner zoom type projection lens is used, and a D-shaped lens with a lower end cut out is used as the first lens group 251 on the enlargement side of the projection-side optical system 250. This is a deformable lens provided with a small notch, and this first lens group 251 can be moved in the thickness direction of the projector.

  The projector according to the present invention incorporates a microcomputer as a projector control means, and has a lens cover 121 on the front panel 120 of the case that is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, as shown in FIG. Is a key as a power switch 111, a manual image quality adjustment key 113, an automatic image quality adjustment key 114, a power lamp indicator 112, a light source lamp indicator 115, a key and indicators such as an overheat indicator 116, a loudspeaker hole 118 with a speaker disposed inside, The projector 100 includes an open / close lid 119, and a back panel (not shown) having various signal input terminals such as a power supply connector, a USB terminal connected to a personal computer, a video terminal for inputting an image signal, and a mini D-sub terminal.

The upper lid 119 has subkeys for fine adjustment of image quality and image and various operation settings of the projector 100. An intake port is provided on the left side panel of the case and an exhaust port is provided on the right side panel 140. A port 145 is provided and has a cooling fan inside.
In addition, the front panel 170 has a forefoot member 170 that can adjust the amount of protrusion at the front of the bottom panel, and a fixed rear foot member 175 at the rear left and right of the bottom panel. By changing the front height of the projector 100, it is possible to project an image according to the height of the screen.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, in the projector 100, when the lens cover 121 is opened, the ascending block 270 is raised so that the projection port 123 has a predetermined height. The first lens group 251 of the projection side optical system 250 is fixed.

  In the projector 100, as shown in FIG. 3, a light source device 210 including a discharge lamp 211 such as an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp, and a color wheel 222 and a light guide rod 224 as a light source side optical system 220, The illumination side optical system has a plurality of light source side lens groups 226 and one mirror 228.

  Furthermore, the circuit board 180 to which the lamp power supply circuit 187 and the projector control means 181 are attached, the light source side optical system 220 that irradiates the display element 230 with the light emitted from the light source device 210, and the plurality of pixels in the row direction and the column direction. A display element 230 that displays an image by controlling reflection of incident light arranged in a matrix, and a projection-side optical system 250 that projects light emitted from the display element 230 onto a projection surface such as a screen. The projector 100 incorporates fixed lens groups 251 and 254 and movable lens groups 252 and 253.

  The circuit board 180 is provided with a projector control means 181 by a microcomputer. The control means 181 controls the operation of each circuit in the projector. When the power switch 111 is turned on, the discharge of the light source device 210 is performed. The lamp 211 is turned on, and the cooling fan 190 is driven at a rated speed according to the output of the discharge lamp 211 and the fan shape and arrangement of the cooling fan 190. The projector 100 is put into a standby state while the air inside the panel 140 is exhausted from the exhaust port 145.

When the temperature of the discharge lamp 211 rises to a predetermined temperature and the light emission is stabilized, an image can be projected by inputting an image signal.
In addition, when the power switch 111 is turned off, the discharge lamp 211 is turned off, and the cooling fan 190 is continuously driven for a predetermined time of about several minutes by a timer to cool down the inside of the projector 100 and perform all operations. Control such as stopping is also performed.

  The display element 230 is a display element 230 that does not include a means for coloring incident light such as a color filter. In this embodiment, a micromirror display element 230 (Digital Micromirror Device) generally abbreviated as DMD is used. ing.

  The micromirror display element 230 is configured to switch light incident from an incident direction tilted in one direction with respect to the front direction, by switching the tilt direction of the plurality of micromirrors. The image is displayed by being reflected separately from the light beam, and the light incident on the micromirror tilted in one tilt direction is turned into the on-state light beam reflected in the front direction by this micromirror, and the other tilt direction The light incident on the micro mirror tilted in the direction is reflected by the micro mirror in an oblique direction to form an off-state light beam, and the off-state light beam is absorbed by the light-absorbing plate. The image is displayed by dark display by reflection in the direction.

  The light source device 210 includes a discharge lamp 211 inside, and an elliptical spherical reflector whose inner surface is a reflecting surface, and an explosion-proof surface is installed in front of the reflector so as to close the opening in front of the reflector. The discharge lamp 211 is connected by a conductive wire so that power can be supplied from the lamp power supply circuit 187, and the discharge lamp 211 emits light and is reflected by the reflecting surface of the reflector to irradiate light in front of the light source device 210. .

The light source side optical system 220 that makes the light emitted from the light source device 210 incident on the micromirror display element 230 includes a color wheel 222, a light guide rod 224, a light source side lens group 226 that is a plurality of lenses, and a mirror 228. It consists of.
The color wheel 222 has a color filter for sequentially coloring light emitted from the light source device 210 into three colors of red, green, and blue, and the light guide rod 224 is provided from the light source device 210. Is to make the intensity distribution of the emitted light uniform

  The color wheel 222 is a rotating plate in which fan-shaped three color filters of red, green, and blue are arranged in the circumferential direction, and the center thereof is arranged on the side of the optical path of the emitted light from the light source device 210. It is fixed to the motor shaft of the wheel motor, and is arranged so that a part of the circumferential direction of the color wheel is interposed in the optical path of the emitted light from the light source device 210.

The light guide rod 224 is disposed at a position where the incident surface faces the exit side of the color wheel 222, and guides the light incident from the incident surface while being reflected by the reflective film on the inner peripheral surface of the rod, and is uniform from the exit surface. The light is emitted as intensity distribution light.
The mirror 228 of the light source side optical system 220 reflects the light emitted from the light source device 210 and transmitted through the light guide rod 224, the color wheel 222, and the light source side lens group 226 toward the micromirror display element 230. Thus, light is projected onto the micromirror display element 230 from a direction inclined in one direction with respect to the front direction.

  The projection-side optical system 250 includes one lens as a fourth lens group 254 that is a fixed lens group on the display element 230 side, and a third lens group 253 and a second lens group 252 inside the movable lens barrel 261. Each of the plurality of lenses further includes one lens as the first lens group 251 in the immediate vicinity of the projection port 123. When the zoom ring 257 and the focus ring 258 are rotated, the second lens group 252 and the third lens group 251 are rotated. The projection side optical system 250 forms an inner zoom and inner focus type zoom lens in which the lens group 253 is moved in the optical axis direction inside the movable lens barrel 261.

  Therefore, the projector 100 emits light from the light source device 210 in one direction, and rotates the color wheel 222 of the light source side optical system 220 at high speed, so that the light incident on the light source side optical system 220 from the light source device 210 Are sequentially colored in three colors of red, green, and blue by the color wheel 222, and the intensity distribution is made uniform by the light guide rod 224, and the micro mirror display element 230 is formed by the lens 53 and the mirror as the light source side optical system 220. It can project toward.

  When the light from the light source device 210 is stabilized after a predetermined time has elapsed since the power was turned on, the monochromatic images of red, green, and blue are displayed on the micromirror display element 230 in synchronization with the projection cycle of red, green, and blue light. By sequentially writing the data, red, green and blue monochromatic images are sequentially formed on the micromirror display element 230 by the on-state light beam reflected in the front direction of the micromirror display element 230, and sequentially emitted from the micromirror display element 230. The red, green, and blue monochromatic image light that is enlarged by the lens group 251 to 254 of the projection-side optical system 250 and projected onto the projection surface. The projection surface has three colors of red, green, and blue. A full color image in which the images overlap is displayed.

In the projector 100, as the lens unit of the projection-side optical system 250, the first lens group 251 is incorporated in the ascending block 270, and the second lens group 252 to the fourth lens group 254 are housed in the lens unit main body 260. Is.
That is, the second lens group 252 and the third lens group 253 are incorporated in the movable lens barrel 260 provided in the lens unit main body 260, and the second lens group 252 and the third lens group 253 can be moved relative to each other with a predetermined optical axis. The fourth lens group 254 is fixed to the bottom panel 160 by the lens unit body 260 and fixed to a fixed position with respect to the display element 230, and the first lens group 251 is fixed to the lens support 265. Thus, it can be moved in the direction intersecting the optical axis.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the first lens group 251 includes a lens support 265 that is a flat plate-like thick plate, and a D-shaped lens with a lower notch fixed thereto. It is attached to the lens unit body 260 by a mounting screw 269 that passes through a slide groove 266 that is a long slot in the vertical direction, and the flat lens support 265 is vertically moved along with the first lens group 251 along the front end of the lens unit body 260. It is supposed to be movable.

The lens support 265 has a rack 267 on the left and right side walls thereof, and an actuator motor 275 having a gear 277 meshing with the rack 267 as a rotation shaft is fixed to the lens unit main body 260.
Accordingly, by rotating the left and right actuator motors 275 at the same speed and raising the lens support 265 along the slide groove 266, the first lens group 251 is raised together with the lens support 265 as shown in FIG. Can be made.

  A window for forming a projection port 123 is provided on the front surface of the lens support 265 in accordance with the shape of the front panel 120 of the projector 100 and the front end shape of the top panel 110 and in front of the first lens group 251. A first lens group cover 271 is provided, and a rising block 270 is formed by the lens support 265 and the first lens group cover 271.

  As described above, the lens of the first lens group 251 is a D-shaped lens in which a part of the lower part is cut out, and can move in the vertical direction that is the thickness direction of the projector 100 together with the lens support 265. 4, when the lens support 265 is lowered, as shown in FIG. 5, the optical axis of the projection-side optical system 250, which is the optical axis of the second lens group 252 to the fourth lens group 254, is shown. Even if the optical axis 264 of the first lens group 251 is positioned at a lower position than that of H.263 and the distance from the optical axis to the lens periphery is large, the height of the first lens group 251 is set to the second height. The height can be approximately the same as the lens group 252.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the first lens group 251 is raised together with the lens support 265, and the optical axis 264 of the first lens group 251 and the optical axis 263 of the projection side optical system 250 are moved as shown in FIG. By matching, the on-state light beam from the display element 230 can be projected onto the screen without being distorted.

  When the lens support 265 is translated in the direction intersecting the optical axis, the guide rail is not limited to the case where the lens support 265 is moved up and down without swinging along the front end of the lens unit body 260. The lens support 265 may be moved up and down along the guide rail while being fixed to the bottom panel 160.

  Further, the upper limit of the lens support 265 is such that the optical axis 264 of the first lens group 251 coincides with the optical axis 263 of the projection-side optical system 250, and an adjustment member is inserted at the lower end of the slide groove 266. When the upper limit position of the lens support 265 is determined, or a stopper member capable of fine adjustment of the stop position is provided so that the lift stop position of the lens support 265 can always be constant. is there.

  In this way, even in the first lens group 251 cut out at the lower side, a shift optical system that uses the micromirror display element 230 and positions the optical axis 263 of the projection side optical system 250 in the vicinity of the upper end of the display element 230. In the projector 100, as shown in FIG. 8, even when the second lens group 252 and the third lens group 253 are positioned at the wide-angle end position, they are incident on the fourth lens group 254, All the light beams of the light bundle transmitted through the third lens group 253 and the second lens group 252 can be transmitted through the first lens group 251.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, even when the second lens group 252 and the third lens group 253 are positioned at the telephoto end position, all the light beams of the light beam transmitted through the third lens group 253 are transmitted to the first lens. The light can be transmitted through the group 251.
Therefore, even when the lower end of the lens of the first lens group 251 is cut out, it can be projected onto the screen without reducing the brightness of the projected image, and when not projected, the projector is lowered by lowering the first lens group 251. 100 can be thinned.

  Since the display element 230 of the projector 100 is rectangular and the projected image is also formed in a rectangular shape, the light bundle necessary for image formation that is transmitted through the projection-side optical system 250 is also rectangular, so the first lens group There may be a deformed lens in which the upper end and the lower end of the lens are partly cut out and the upper end and the lower end of the lens are parallel straight lines.

However, the cutout at the upper end of the first lens group 251 is smaller than the cutout at the lower end, and the upper end of each lens of the second lens group 252 to the fourth lens group 254 may be partially cut away. .
In this way, by partially cutting away the upper end of the first lens group 251 and the like, the upper end of each lens having a circular shape centered on the optical axis is partially made into a linear shape in the horizontal direction. The overall height may be lower.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be freely changed and improved without departing from the gist of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a projector according to the invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a projector according to the present invention with a lens cover opened. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an outline of the internal structure of the projector according to the invention. The figure which shows typically the lens unit of the projector which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows typically the projection side optical system of the state which lowered | hung the 1st lens group. The figure which shows typically the lens unit of the projector which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows typically the projection side optical system of the state which raised the 1st lens group. The figure which shows the light beam permeation | transmission state of a wide angle state in a projection side optical system. The figure which shows the light beam transmission state of a telephoto state in a projection side optical system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Projector 110 Top panel 111 Power switch 112 Power lamp indicator 113 Manual image quality adjustment key 114 Automatic image quality adjustment key 115 Light source lamp indicator 116 Heating indicator 118 Loudspeaker 119 Opening / closing lid 120 Front panel 121 Lens cover 123 Projection port 130 Rear panel 140 Right side Panel 145 Exhaust port 150 Left side panel 155 Intake port 160 Bottom panel 170 Forefoot member 175 Rear foot member 180 Circuit board 181 Projector control means 187 Lamp power supply circuit 190 Cooling fan 210 Light source device 211 Discharge lamp 220 Light source side optical system 222 Color wheel 224 Light guide rod 226 Light source side lens group 228 Mirror 230 Display element 250 Projection side optical system 251 First lens group 252 Second lens Lens group 253 Third lens group 254 Fourth lens group 257 Zoom ring 258 Focus ring 260 Lens unit main body 261 Movable barrel 263 Projection-side optical system optical axis 264 First lens group optical axis 265 Lens support 266 Slide groove 267 Rack 269 Mounting screw 270 Lifting block 271 First lens group cover 275 Actuator motor 277 Gear

Claims (8)

  A projection lens composed of a plurality of lens groups, wherein at least one of the first lens groups on the enlargement side has a D shape with a lower end cut out, and the first lens group is orthogonal to the optical axis. A projection lens mechanism which is movable in the vertical direction.   The projection lens mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the projection lens including the plurality of lens groups is a zoom lens.   3. The projection lens mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the first lens group has a notch smaller than a lower end at an upper end, and the upper end and the lower end are parallel to each other.   4. The projection lens mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the first lens group is a front group fixed projection lens that does not move in the optical axis direction during focusing and zooming.   A projector having a light source device, a light source side optical system, a display element, a projection side optical system, a cooling fan, and a lamp power circuit and projector control means in a case, wherein the projection side optical system is a plurality of lens groups At least one of the first lens groups on the enlargement side has a D-shape with one end cut out, and the first lens group is movable in the thickness direction of the case. projector.   6. The projector according to claim 5, wherein an optical axis of the projection side optical system does not coincide with a center of the display element.   The first lens group has a cutout smaller than the cutout at the one end on the opposite side of the lens circumference at the one end, and the cutout at the one end and the small cutout are made parallel to each other. The projector according to claim 5 or 6.   8. The projector according to claim 5, wherein the first lens group is a front group fixed optical system that does not move in the optical axis direction during focusing and zooming.

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